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The Friends Academy Magazine for Alumni, Parents & Friends

The Meeting HouseWinter/Spring 2012

Friends in the 40s and 50s: The Closest Thing to Home

The Meeting House | Fall 2009

Friends Academy Board of Trustees, 2011-2012Co-Presidents

Thomas Hawkins ‘78 Scott Rechler

TreasurerFrancis Ingrassia

Board MembersCarl Ashkin

Cynthia BoultsPeggy Brucia

Jeff Daniels ‘90Debra Del Vecchio

Albert Granger Elizabeth McCaul Ingrassi

Jodi LeeserVictoria Quesada Moore

Joe PodbelaRobert Rosenbaum

Honorary TrusteeJohn W. Oelsner

Head of SchoolWilliam G. Morris Jr.

Friends Academy Alumni Association, 2011-2012President

Peter Stein ’79

Vice PresidentPenelope Wylie Mayer ‘75

Secretary Pamela Foschi Danbusky ‘97

Alumni Board MembersPark Benjamin III ‘61

Barbara Shoen Brundige ‘63Thomas Hawkins ‘78

Elisabeth Dillof Dreizen ‘78Lydia Fichera ‘84

Kathryn Hawkins Schneider ‘86Colleen Doyle Moran ‘91

Elizabeth Siris Winchester ‘91Alana Teutonico ‘94

Thomas Pascarella ‘95Courtney Devon Taylor ‘01

Salwa Touma ‘01Jenna McCann ‘06

President EmeritusJames R. Greene ‘74

Alumni OfficeAlumni Affairs Coordinator, Kathy Fox

Founded in 1876 by Gideon Frost for “the children

of Friends and those similarly sentimented,” Friends

Academy is a Quaker, coeducational, independent,

college preparatory school serving 775 students

from age three through twelfth grade.

The school’s philosophy is based on the Quaker

principles of integrity, simplicity, patience,

moderation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and a

belief that the silence and simple ministry of the

“gathered meeting” brings the presence of God into

the midst of busy lives. Friends Academy is

committed to developing a diverse community whose

members value excellence in learning and growth in

knowledge and skill, a genuine commitment to

service and ethical action, and a realization that

every life is to be explored, celebrated, and enjoyed

in the spirit of the Religious Society of Friends.

The Friends Academy Mission

The Meeting House Editorial Board, 2011-2012

Amanda Fisk '99Kathy FoxNatalia Porcelli Good '93Hayley Kucich ‘03Penelope Wylie Mayer ‘75Andrea MillerJennifer Ryan Woods '99

Strong Minds. Kind Hearts.

The Meeting House | Winter/Spring 2012

From the Head of School

Friends,

We have reached that place in the school year where time seems to defy logic and the laws of physics as we accelerate to

graduation and summer vacation. For the faculty and staff, the mantra this time of the year is “Hold on!” We have had a terrific year with record demand in admissions and superb college placement, so we have much to celebrate with the Class of 2012 and all the members of our unique community as we look forward to June and a break.

In reading the personal memories of our graduates from the 1940s and 1950s in this Meeting House, I see the enduring qualities of our mission as a Quaker school. So many of the stories speak to the sense of being at home at Friends, and 60 or 70 years later, our graduates from that era vividly recall the special qualities of a community built on a caring, dedicated, inspirational faculty and a diverse, engaged, and fun-loving student body.

The spirit of equality, respect, service, and integ-rity that abounded then defines the essence of our community today. Gonzalo Pardo ’47 captures it best when he writes, “Perhaps FA’s greatest gift . . . is the mutual caring that converts a gaggle of individuals

into a vibrant, functioning community.” Of course, I am also reassured that our students from six and seven decades ago enjoyed their share of youthful shenanigans, another strong link to our students today! Whether we recall fondly the FA of the 1940s

and 50s or we witness the school today as revealed in the other articles in this issue or in the lives of Diane Loviglio ’01 and Mats Lemberger ’02, both of whom realize that their years at FA grounded them in service, we should recognize and celebrate Gideon Frost’s vision that created a place that nur-tures the hearts, minds, and souls of those fortunate enough to pass through the doors of our great school.

In the end, as we experience the joys and challenges of life and navigate an increasingly complex and uncertain world, it is our connections to our families, friends, colleagues, and those we know and do not know through our service and outreach that give us meaning and comfort.

I am proud that each day at Friends we give students myriad opportunities to learn the value of relationships, reflection, and resilience. These lessons will allow them to let their lives speak as they become members of the 136-year-old Friends family.

William G. Morris Jr.

From The Archives: June 7, 1908 – Friends Academy Postcard

Addressed to Miss Avery Willets, Jericho NY: “I feel pretty sure we understood each other this morning but in case we didn’t I write to say that 3rd day (the) 9th was the day we can come. – Emily F. Jackson

(Take a look at more archival postcards on page 7.)

FA Trivia Contest

“If you were a student, faculty or staff member and ate in the Friends Academy Commons, chances are you’d see me every day." Who am I?

E-mail your answer to [email protected]. The winner, whose name will be drawn from all correct entries, will receive a surprise Friends academy gift.

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The Second Annual MS/US Jazz Concert

March 8, 2012

“Embracing us”Community service abounds at FAA three-peat for FA ChessStudents take 1st place in regional biology contestLittle MastersWorld Travelers in Lower School

Diane Loviglio ’01: Clean energy advocate and innovative startup founderMats Lemberger ’02: Boundless energy for service, music and medicine

Meet me at the corner... of Broadway and Friends AcademyThe Winter Concert series

insideAround the Quad. 8

The Arts. 14

This was a season of firsts, from the ice to the track and everywhere in between. Personal bests and school records broken; plus, building for the future. Take a look back at the 2012 Winter Sports season.

Sports: Go FA! 24

Alumni Profiles. 34

Class Notes. 38

Faculty Milestones. 30

In Memoriam. 54The Meeting House Staff

EditorAndrea Miller, Director of Communications and Marketing 516.393.4295 | [email protected]

WritersKathy Fox, Natalia Porcelli Good ’93, Hayley Kucich ’03, Andrea Miller and Margaret Whitney Shiels ’52

Photographers Michael Damm, Amanda Fisk, David Gatoux and Al Quackenbush

Friends in the 40s and 50s: The closest thing to homeA collection of stories about life at Friends Academy from alumni who attended Friends in the 30s, 40s and 50s. Compiled by Margaret Whitney Shiels, ’52.

Feature Story. 16

VOL. 48, NO. 2

Meeting House Letters. 6

members of the Upper School choir, middle School Jazz Band and Upper School Jazz Band delighted audience members with rousing Blues, Swing and Rock ‘n Roll selections.

on the coverFa mEmoRIES. Scenes from Friends Academy between 1947 and 1949 that were generously given to Friends from an anonymous donor. View the entire collection of photos at www.fa.org/alumni.


Providing hope for heels

and soles for souls (Excerpted from a letter to Evan Cagner

’91, who was profiled in the Fall/Winter 2011 Meeting House).

Just last week I received my publica-tion of The Meeting House. As I flipped

through to see what was new, the article that Natalia Porcelli Good ’93 wrote regarding you, your business and most of all your generosity, caught my eye.

My children attend a modest syna-gogue in Trumbull, CT and recently one of the good faith projects the students of the Hebrew School took on is to raise enough money to purchase over 150 pairs of sneakers and school shoes for Emunah Children’s Center in Afula, Israel (named Heels for Hope). We are looking to provide each child with a pair of school shoes and a pair of sneakers.

– Julie Gordon Tillotson ’83

moved by Craig White ’61 profile

The recent issue of The Meeting House was excellent. I particularly

appreciated the article on Craig White, a dear friend and classmate. He certainly epitomizes Quaker values and dedication to serving others in many ways.

– Pamela Harris McClure-Johnston ’61

Of course, my cousin, John Craig White’s entire life has been of

service to his community, to America in service to his country, in devotion to the tenets of Quakerism and his support and love for Friends.

– Margaret Whitney Shiels ’52

Send Us Your ThoughtsWe want to hear from you! To send a letter, respond to an article or share a memory of Friends Academy, please e-mail Kathy Fox at [email protected].

“To our beloved teacher, our trusted friend, and the best darn bike rider in the world.

For four years you have provided us with the support, the confidence, and, of course, all the laughter necessary to succeed. You have always put us first, teaching us not only derivatives and volumes, but also the ability to believe in ourselves and to trust our instincts. For that we are eternally grateful. The more we got to know you, your humorous disposition and your optimistic nature, the fonder we grew of you. We are now your biggest fans. Though it may be impossible to express our true appreciation and admiration, we, the senior class of 2003, dedicate this yearbook to you, Mr. Dick, an Academy legend.”

a friend to allYou can’t fool us ... Mr. Dick, with that

bushy mustache and those dark shades. Your million-dollar smile gives you away. Always a friend to all.

– Sue Hancock, alumni parent of Rhett Hancock ’89 and Samantha Hancock Lenz ’90

made Geometry funThat picture is of none other than Alec

Dick – he made (hated) Geometry as fun as it could possibly be! And oh, that “ugly tie collection” – who could forget that!

– Philippa Barnat Miller ’85

Character of a teacherAl Dick – math teacher par excellence –

a real character!

– Susan Match, alumni parent of Laura Match Schaffer ’85 and Debra Match Morse ’81

Faculty accoladeI think the mystery man is Alec Dick,

who I had the pleasure of working with from 1972-1977.

– Lesley Graham ’68

one-of-a-kind smileThat great smile could only belong to

Alec Dick, a larger-than-life teacher and coach.

– Mary Craig, former faculty and alumni parent of David Craig ’82 and Ian Craig ’86

Eternal orioles fanThe man in question with the trademark

cap and ‘stache, is none other than eternal Baltimore Oriole fan, Mr. Alec Dick. One of the greats. PS. – I think he stole the “cake” line from me.

– Frank Caponegro ’83

other correct responses:

Ellen Coffey ’80Barret Gargano ’91Heather Adler Schoen ’96

Meeting House letters Thoughts, memories and reflections

from our readers ... you!

FA Trivia Contest Responses“It would be ‘cake’ to simply describe [this mystery man] as a caring and warm guy but that would be too simple. The Cool Man façade, however, is only a shell disguising a concerned friend.” – The Lamp 1994. Who am I?

Answer: Alec Dick


June 8, 1906Addressed to Mrs. Anna Weeks: “Dear Mrs. W., How shall I thank you for the view of your home? Wish love and hopes of soon seeing you again.” – Sincerely Mrs. E. Willitts.

March 13, 1908Addressed to Ms. A. Locks, “Thy postal received thanks for kind invitation do not see how we can visit thee at the time mentioned. I suppose thee have received my let-ter the first of week.” - Lovingly A.L.

June 6, 1908“The twenty-eighth Annual Meeting of the Friends’ Academy Reunion will be held at Friends Academy. 6th day, 6th month, 19th, 1908 at 8 o’clock P.M.” – Eleanor Coles Titus, Sec’y. Glen Cove, L.I.

November 16, 1908Addressed to Miss Elizabeth W. Vinden: “Leave here this A.M. for Wantagh. I like E.M.P. best but that is like home you know.”

From The Archives: Early 1900s – Friends Academy Postcards

A glimpse of Friends and friends from the early 1900s

In the early years of the twentieth century, collecting Real Photo Postcards (RPPCs) became a popular hobby in America. Advances in

photography made it possible for a scene, no bigger than 3½” x 5½”, to become a souvenir of a trip, an advertisement of an event or simply a re-cord of a particular landmark. I became interested in photo postcards of Friends Academy, and related places, after discovering one on the in-ternet while searching for old maps of Locust Valley. The first of what would become a growing collection, depicted the original Matinecock Friends’ Meeting House in panoramic view, looking slightly northeast

on Duck Pond Road. What was most striking about this image, and those that were later found, was that after the passage of so many years bringing change, the Meeting House, Friends Academy, and other places were still very recognizable. While the heyday of Real Photo Postcards has long since passed, with their giving way to newer technologies, they continue to serve as reminders of places we have known, places we know now, and the places that will always remain snapshots in our memories as we embrace the future.

– Ed Dugger, Director of College Counseling

*Due to handwriting, some of the letters may have been inaccurately transcribed, but if you recognize the letter writers or have postcards or other Friends Academy memorabilia of your own, we’d love to hear from you!

Around the Quad8

REACHING OUT AND EMBRACING ‘US’

From Peace Week to new Diversity Parenting Series to Quaker Youth Leader Conference – celebrating and discovering how differences matter


Forging New Partnerships at Friends

By Andrea MillerDirector of Communications

This year our students, fac-ulty and staff explored and celebrated their differences, came face-to-face with issues

of local and global poverty, dove into themes of essential tension and shared their homes with friends from a conti-nent away. It has been a year packed with events and milestones that ultimately have shown us the strength of commu-nity and what it means to be “us.”

In early February, Friends hosted the 15th Annual Quaker Youth Leadership Conference for the first time. Working with Brooklyn Friends, the event drew over 150 people from different Friends schools, involved over 20 FA students and countless FA parents and faculty.

Upper School Spanish teacher Angie Martin, who is also a Quaker, helped to organize the conference and was instru-mental in bringing it to Friends.

“The theme this year was Essential Tension,” said Martin. “We examined the conflicts between individuals and com-munity, connected it to social justice and discussed the responsibility to recognize that when there is tension, we don’t ignore it, but hold it up and sometimes create it so that we can solve it.”

The three-day conference treated students to workshops, service projects and a presentation by Playback Theater, based in Manhattan, where students’ conflicts were brought to life on stage and interpreted through professional actors and dancers.

Friends helped shine a light on hate

crime, when it hosted a special film screening and panel discussion of “Not in Our Town: Light in the Darkness” about the town of Patchogue taking action after anti-immigrant violence devastated their community.

FA’s new director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs Shanelle Robinson organized the event, which drew 60 stu-

dents, faculty, parents, trustees and guests from outside the FA community to hear the panelists, who had been featured in the PBS documentary.

Talking openly about differences continued with a new two-part Parent-ing Diversity Series, “Raising Culturally Competent Children.” “Through these workshops, FA parents and students learned how to comfortably talk to chil-dren about (and develop comfort with) people of different facial, cultural and

Dr. Pamela Reed of Virgina State University leads a presentation for faculty/staff, parents and their children about how to raise culturally competent children.

Songwriters and musicians Kim and Reggie harris performed songs of peace for Lower School students.

ALIX LISS/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Students from martinique attend an Fa basketball game with host Fa and French students.

Around the Quad 9


A Community of Problem Solvers

mixed community groups of third through 12th graders count the number of service activities they do. Through iPads and a custom-built program, sixth graders tracked and broadcast a live “tally” of the activities, which num-bered over 8,000 at the end of the exercise. Sample questions ranged from “have you ever given to the mitten Tree?” to “have you ever done service in another country?”

Addressing Poverty at Peace Week 2012

“T here is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we have the resources to

get rid of it...There is no deficit in human resources; the deficit is in human will.”

– martin Luther King Jr.’s Nobel Prize Speech, 1964

The four-day all-school Peace Week chal-lenged students to take a look at poverty, not only around the world, but also in their own backyard. Middle School students watched a series of videos that asked them to think about who is in poverty and why. Students were asked to consider what they thought were essential expenses for a family of four, define a soup kitchen and a food pantry, define minimum wage jobs and think about what jobs have no benefits.

At the end of the week, Community Groups of third through 12th graders gath-ered to mark and tally the number of com-munity service activities they had contrib-uted. The total number? Well over 8,000.

Essential Tension: Quaker Leadership Youth Conference

“I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have ear-nestly opposed violent tension, but

there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.“ –

martin Luther King Jr. “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

For three days, FA hosted 150 other Friends school students and faculty to ex-plore Quakerism and the theme of “Essential Tension.” A mix of daily Meeting for Worship gatherings, workshops (led by students and faculty), a service project with Island Harvest and LI Cares, and social mixes,including a coffeehouse that featured 24 acts of student talent, rounded out the conference.

Brown university Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson (and mother to FA history teacher Geoff Nelson) delivered the keynote address, emphasizing that in order to succeed over conflict, we must seek a middle ground in the pain we feel and experience – there must be some, but if there is too much, one will give up.

ethnic backgrounds,” explained Robinson.

In mid-February, 12 students and two chaperones visited from Martinique to stay and learn from their FA homestay friends, who had traveled to Martinique the previous year.

“The biggest thing the exchange teaches is how little the racial, cultural and linguistic differences really matter,” said World Languages and Cultures head Polly Duke. “But how wonderful those differences really are!”

This year, the all-school Peace Week examined the link between peace and poverty with powerful workshops, compelling speakers and an all-divisional study of some of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most important thoughts linking poverty, racism and peace. Hugh Evans and Meg Watkins, from the Global Poverty Pre-sentation, spoke with Middle and Upper School students about the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty (living on less than $1.25/day), as well as how and why this affects and relates to every-one. Upper school students gave them a standing ovation.

The conversation continued at a special Peace Week “Diversity Lunch & Learn” about the unspoken “ism” of classism. A new series this year, the monthly work-shops are open to Upper School students, faculty and staff to discuss issues encom-passing cultural diversity.

Peace Week 2012

AMANDA FISK/FRIENDS ACADEMY

mike Fox ’91 and Courtney Lenoir ’10 returned to Friends during Peace Week to address students, faculty and staff about finding their passion and pur-suing it via service. Both alumni later shared a lunch with the senior class at the Jackson house.

Around the Quad10

Small band captures county title again, and again – and again

Service abounds at Fa

Seventh graders Claire handa, Jessica oxer, olivia Constantino and Frank Lizzax help make sandwiches for a hempstead soup kitchen.

On Wednesday, February 29th, the entire class of FA 7th

graders, 64, gathered in the Friends Academy Commons to make turkey and cheese sandwiches as part of their community service activity. Their sandwich goal? 270! And all were delivered to the Mary Brennan Soup Kitchen in Hempstead, NY.

Freshman projects: This year the freshman class divided into their advisories and dove into a multitude of community service projects that exposed them to issues like poverty, homelessness and advocacy, as well as how to help out at “home.”

Here at FA, students organized several areas of Lost and Found items, composted and weeded the FA Ed-ible Garden and helped first grade students prepare bags of art supplies for children hospitalized with cancer. As part of their outreach, students organized a December gift drive, then wrapped gifts for low-income families, packed up unused French books and other textbooks for use in other underserved schools, as well as schools in Haiti and wrote letters of gratitude to overseas soldiers in connection to Veteran’s Day. After learning how to write an effective advocacy letter, students wrote to rep-resentatives expressing their concern about New York State’s elimination of funding for the Games for the Physi-cally Challenged.


A Three-Peat for FA Chess

On Wednesday, February 1, the Friends Academy Varsity chess team swept Jericho HS on all six

boards in the final round to capture their third straight Nassau County Interscho-lastic League Chess Championship, by a score of 45-0.

It was an epic conclusion to an undefeat-ed season. The Friends team headed into the competition fired up in the first round against Great Neck North. Both teams battled fiercely and the round ended with a nail-biter on the last board, won by junior Will Duke. The match came down to the final seconds, and with all the play-ers from both teams surrounding the last remaining board, Duke pulled it out for Friends with a checkmate.

Friends ultimately won the first round 27.5 to 17.5, with victories by freshman Anthony Cortese, junior Ethan Nyein and Duke, a draw by junior Jahan Khan (Brookville) and two other losses.

Friends went on to sweep in the finals, scoring all possible 45 points and winning every game. In the end, the mentally ex-hausted chess-letes emerged with another victory, adding on to their two-year streak.

For FA Chess coach and World Lan-guages and Culture dept. head Polly Duke, the win was a meaningful one.

“This third-straight championship and second-straight undefeated season was particularly sweet because it was not particularly easy,” said Duke. “Those who watched the semi-finals match could see a team that was far from invincible. We made mistakes, but we learned from them. And the unconditional support we

gave each other through those tense final seconds helped to buoy us toward a three-peat championship performance,”

The Nassau County Interscholastic Chess League was founded over 20 years ago.

Friends hosted the finals at home after finishing undefeated in their regular season.

above, sophomore Nate hogg looks on as junior Jahan Khan surveys the board.Left: The scores from the final round.

AMANDA FISK/ FRIENDS ACADEMY

Around the Quad 11

Students take 1st in regional biology contest

A team of three Friends Acad-emy Upper School students

beat out 30 teams from other schools to win first place at the Protein Modeling Challenge competition held at Stony Brook University on March 7.

Senior Andrew Eng, junior Ariana Farahani and senior Michael Gambardella represented FA’s first entry ever into this regional com-petition.

Competitors were tested on their knowledge of proteins in general, and specifically the “Met” protein, which is a protein involved in turn-ing cells cancerous. Teams were also evaluated on the quality of their “pre-build” of the protein model completed at school earlier in Feb-ruary, the actual competition build and an exam.

To prepare for this competi-tion, the FA team dug into cancer research. “First we had to learn about how cancer cells develop, the current drugs available to slow down cancer cell growth and what makes them become cancerous,” said Farahani.

Ultimately, teamwork was a key and crucial factor in winning the top honors.

JENNIFER NEWITT/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Seniors andrew Eng and matthew Gambardella and junior ariana Farahani display their winning “met” protein model at the Protein modeling Challenge held at Stony Brook University on march 7.


Little Masters

Early Childhood students continued their exploration of master paint-ers as they dove into the work of artist Jackson Pollock. The children learned all about his unique style of painting called “action Painting.” The children used some of the very same tools that Jackson Pollock used for his art, including wire whisks, egg beaters, and wooden sticks. Want to take a closer look? The masterpieces are now on display in the Withington “art Gallery.”

KRISTIN MINuTO/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Around the Quad12

World travelers


Fifth grader Faraz Khan demonstrates the art of origami; fourth graders perform traditional african dances with the Fa african drumming group; second grader Sydney Cagner teaches Spanish teacher Fina Scibilia about the habitats, cultures and geography of South american countries.

Lower School students celebrate and share their knowledge of the world around us


By Natallia Porcelli Good, ‘93

The Lower School Goes Global program has brought out an ef-fusive energy among the Lower

School teachers as it has empowered them to take a fresh look at the curricula and create an important collaboration between the specials and the core teach-ers alike.

The global committee consisted of Kim Soscie (Chair and 5th grade Social Studies coordinator), Lynn DeNatale (4th Grade), Fina Scibilia (Lower School Spanish), Margaret Lindner (Lower School Art), Kate Madigan (Lower School Librarian), and Sara Alt (Lower School Music).

Many of the members with whom I met could not contain their excitement as they described the learning that has gone on as a result of this global thread. From Early Childhood to fifth grade, each class studied the culture and people of a different continent.

As a parent, it was a pleasure seeing such sincere, palpable enthusiasm among the teachers who are so invested in making this program possible. Many of the committee members remarked that there is a cross-over effect between what the students are learning about in their core classes that transcends into their specials.

For example, one student made a

poignant connection between what he was learning about regarding South American culture and related it to a work by Kandinsky.

For the teachers, it is so exciting to see the children “taking ownership, becoming inspired and more interested in what they are learning about.” The global interconnections students are making without even realizing it clearly reflect the school’s commitment to 21st century learning.

It is not just through spe-cific lessons, but also through “osmosis”: seeing a map every day and walking past exhibits in the lobby. Just to name a few of the projects the students worked on: creating Powerpoint presentations and travel brochures; designing passports in Span-ish; writing with pen pals, Skyping with some alums; working on community service projects; and making aboriginal-inspired art.

Friends has sought to bring global awareness into its curriculum and it is clear that this program has been an extraordinary success in helping to achieve that goal. As Soscie, the chair of the committee, explained, “each grade is assigned to a particular continent to

study, so if a student begins in Playgroup and continues on until 5th grade, she will have been exposed to each conti-nent and every country in our world by the time she leaves the Lower School.” What a seamless and exciting new way of

learning about each continent year after year.

The program culminated on March 28th as parents were able to visit each classroom, sample ethnic food, play cul-tural games, and learn about the customs and peoples of each region. In fifth grade,

students educated fam-ily and friends about

Japanese etiquette, dressed in the saris of India and demonstrated traditional Chinese games, like Nim. Fourth graders dazzled all with their sampling of African dancing and in third grade, students shared their knowledge of Europe through a custom-made Monopoly game.

As our conversation concluded, the success and enthusiasm with which this program has been received will ensure that this type of global education is here to stay.

First grader Kallen Fenster plays the drums of the Caribbean on one of the classroom’s four iPad stations.

Around the Quad 13


The universal language of music ... and rock ‘n’ roll!

Music Therapy is an after-school Community Service

activity, which serves mentally dis-abled residents from a home spon-sored by St. Christopher-Ottilie of Glen Cove. Most Thursday after-noons, Raymond, Seth, Rob, and sometimes John come to campus to sing and play rock ‘n’ roll music with FA students, faculty, and staff. The group is led by Upper School students, sophomore Kabir Chabra and junior Kira Sanchez, and super-vised by Ken Ambach, FA’s Director of Technology, and John Scardina, FA’s Quaker in Residence. They are frequently joined by staff members Adam Weber and Angelo Caval-lone, music teacher James Liverani, other Upper School students with an afternoon free, and the occa-sional dancer from FA’s Infant & Toddler Program.

“What I love most about Music Therapy is that not only are you able to contribute to your commu-nity, you get to do it while you do what you love!” explains Kabir.

The Creative Process of Inventing

This winter’s fifth grade Invention Convention challenged students to create gadgets of simple machines and investigate how they allow us to do work using less effort. Students studied famous inventors, inventions that have succeeded and failed and evaluated the impact certain inventions have had on society. all inventions needed to include at least one simple machine. at top, Chase Diliberto demonstrates his Snow Ball Catapault, which employed a lever and wheel and axle. middle, matthew Storch explains his Guinea Pig Feeder and his series of pulleys. Bottom, margaux Blau used a pulley to create a device to lower a turkey into a deep fryer.



Director of Technology Ken ambach plays guitar during a music Therapy session.

Quaker-in-Residence John Scardina and sophomore Kabir Chabra

The Arts14


By Andrea MillerDirector of Communications

F rom the big band horn blasts of “Runyonland’s” opening notes to the catchy melody of “Fugue for

Tinhorns” (“I got the horse right here .. his name is Paul Revere...”), to the high-kicking, twirling first full-cast ensemble, it was clear that this version of Damon Runyon’s “Guys and Dolls” was going to be quality – Broadway quality.

It’s New York City, circa 1920s – a time filled with gangsters, hustling, gamblers and, oh yes, dolls. In this case, two dolls: showgirl Adelaide (senior Courtney Naughton) and Mission Volunteer Sergeant Sarah Brown (junior Kira Sanchez).

The professional sets – from a bustling NYC street corner, to the night club where the Hot Box Girls and Adelaide perform nightly, to the tropical courtyard of

(... of Broadway and Friends Academy...)


Senior Liam Collier as Nathan Detroit, leads the pack of gangsters on the streets of New York City.

The Winter Musical: Guys & Dolls

Top, senior Courtney Naughton, who plays adelaide,

Nathan Detroit’s girlfriend, is surrounded by her entourage

of hot Box Girls.

Right, senior Devin Gerzof as gangster Sky masterson, tries

to woo mission Volunteer Sarah Brown, junior Kira Sanchez.

MEET ME AT THE CORNER

The Arts 15


Winter Concerts 2011

Lower School

Middle School

Upper School

The Upper School strings section of the Upper School orchestra performs a selection. The middle School chorus performs holiday songs for family and friends. Kindergart-ners sing the upbeat and amusing version of “australian Jingle Bells,” in honor of the new Lower School Goes Global all-school theme this year.

Havana, Cuba – bring to life this story of love, money and a bet.

All the top gamblers are in town and it’s up to Nathan Detroit (senior Liam Collier) to find a suitable place to throw down dice and set up the next round of “The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York.” Just $1,000 stands between Detroit and the venue. A gap that he bridges by offer-ing a one-of-a-kind bet to fellow gambler Sky Masterson (senior Devin Gerzof) – convince Sarah Brown, local Sergeant of the Volunteer Mission, to accompany him to Havana.

The elevated 11-piece big band, conducted by FA Music teacher James Liverani, which hovered above the stage, follows the love stories of Detroit and Adelaide/Masterson and Sarah through saucy nightclub numbers, willowy ballads, Cuban tangos and a toe-tapping performance by gangster Nicely Nicely Johnson’s (senior Alan Gabay) in “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat.” The choreography of FA Dance teacher Kimo Sibbett and Corey Pierno ’02, coupled with period costumes designed by Middle School science teacher Selina Collier and Arts Assistant Pia Fleischmann add the finishing touches to this star-studded production.

In the end girl gets boy, boy gets girl, the local Save a Soul Mission (in danger of being closed) is saved – after being used to host the infamous crap game – and every-one eludes Police Lieutenant Brannigan (FA Athletic Director David Gatoux).

middle: Juniors Sydney menzin, Kira Sanchez and olivia Youngwall as the mission Volunteers.

Bottom: Senior alan Gabay as Nicely, Nicely, brings the cast to its knees with his rendition of “Don’t Rock the Boat.”

ShoW STEaLERS:

Top, sophomores Sam Riese and Cissy Shi perform an elegant dance duet.

Feature Story16


tHe closest tHing to HoMe

Friends in the 40s and 50s...

Margaret Whitney Shiels, ’52 collected stories of life at Friends Academy from alumni, who attended Friends in the 30s, 40s and 50s. What follows is a collection of priceless memories. As Ward Burian ’54 states in his contribution, “There was a fire there that sparked many of us, and I have often wondered if it was lighted by the dedicated faculty, an unusual number of gifted students or perhaps the post-war environment. In fact, it was probably all of these things together with the sense of kindness and civility fostered by the Quaker spirit.”

Edited by Margaret Whitney Shiels, ‘52

The first letters I received from Friends Academy Alumni from the 30s, 40s and 50s were boarding students. I remember hearing

more than once from my boarding classmates of 1952, “We were family.” I was a day student and realized early on that the “boarders” and day students enjoyed totally different cultures. During reunions it became very apparent as we toured what used to be dormitories the close relationships that the boarding students shared with each other.

Walt Wilson ’34, Day Student“The school week, Monday through Friday,

commenced with the entire student and faculty body meeting in the main building at 9 a.m. The headmaster presided starting with prayers, a hymn, school announcements, short current events and closing with singing an operatic selec-tion. The Lower School students were dismissed to

The Friends academy entrance board sign in January 1947.

Feature Story 17



their classrooms and Upper School students remained in the study hall where they kept their books, etc., meeting subsequently in separate rooms on the various topics they were studying. Even then it was pretty crowded and expansion plans were made soon thereafter. The classes were conducted with a certain decorum and were reason-ably courteous and quiet. Although not overly strict, we were aware that little non-sense would be tolerated. I think the class sizes varied, but 10 to 15 comes to mind. It seems to me that the strongest part of our education imparted at FA was the strong impression that music and literature made on our lives – at least it did to me. I can re-member selections from books and songs as well as characters in history and literature – although as I must say, my memory is not as acute as it used to be.

My dad was the chauffeur for J.P. Mor-gan’s granddaughter’s family. I grew up on the Pennoyer estate and I played the usual sports – baseball and football on Long Island. Not sure how the family picked Friends, but I was able to walk to school. I remember Miss Goodwin (1st grade) and Mr. Birney. I don’t specifically recall the Quaker Spirit in daily life but it was a wonderful experience and an outstanding education.”

Fred Laing ’46, Boarding Student

“Henry Palau and I set up an evening sandwich operation from our sec-

ond floor dorm room which we called “The Passionate Pickle.” Ira Vail had a Model T

Ford and he gave some of us a ride in it, showing us how complicated the gears were in order to drive it. I am sorry to say that we have lost Ira.

“Sleepless” was the night security person, one of whose duties was that of reducing student raids into the kitchen at night. Mr. Nomer was the head-master.

Mrs. Kennedy, our faithful chemistry teacher, had a son with a lively sense of mis-chief. He was alleged to have everyone duck

while he dropped a pellet of pure sodium into a beaker of water to see if it might create a violent action. I heard that he had been successful!

One night as I was sitting on the outside window sill on the second floor, we had a night visitor...a barred owl.

Mr. Stubbs stood out as our math teacher. The English teacher, a quiet man, had just returned from military service. I believe his name was Mr. Grenner. The “Mikado” directed by energetic Mrs. Milyko had several memorable partici-pants, including her daughter, Florence Mi-lyko. I must mention my second roommate, Dr. Gonzalo Ignatius Pardo, a great friend with a huge sense of humor.”

Fred grew up in Amityville, served in the military in Korea and was a biology teacher. Fred is also the FIRST person EVER to recognize that my e-mail address is from Walt Whitman’s Indian word for Long Island, Paumanok.

Dr. Gonzalo (Gonzy) Pardo ’47, Boarding Student

“I am the fourth of four brothers to attend Friends; Ricardo, David, Oscar

and me. I attended from 1943-47. My wife of 59 years and I live in Shoreham, NY, which puts us on eastern Paumanok. We settled here after my service in the army

and finished dental school. My brothers, sadly all gone now, loved Friends Academy, as did I. A few years ago my brother David asked if we could visit the school together. We were surprised that the little old place we knew and loved had the ivy covered walls but had grown considerably, and worse, had no boarders! The old boarding school had been such a family home to us all.

How we ended up in going to Friends: In 1929, my mother was a widow with four small boys in Venezuela. In those days, women of “good families” did not work, but she had five mouths to feed and had to

earn a living. She moved to New York in 1936. Working full time and with four boys she had to put us in boarding school. In 1936 she advertised for a summer camp to send the older ones to. That being the Depression era,

a number of summer camps responded. Directors came calling. The one mom liked best was a Mr. Sherman, who was a teacher at a small L.I. boarding school during the school year. I am still convinced that my dad, looking down on his little family, had something to do with Mr. Sherman’s visit. I fondly recall mealtimes in the Dining Hall. We were assigned on a rotating basis to tables of 8-10 people, overseen by an in-house “master.” The tables were always covered with crisp white linen table cloths, complete with crisp white napkins. Seating included the master’s wife and children,

Fa Baseball team: Unidentified boy, michael Craig ’50, Roger Young ’50, unidentified boy, marc Lust ’49, henry Fernandez ’48, unidentified boy in dark jacket, unidentified boy, arvid Strom ’48, Edwin Esval ’49, unidentified boy.

a corner of a boy’s dormitory room, 1947-48.

Continued on page 18

FA was a village in every sense of Hilary Clinton’s “It takes a village.”

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Putting out the fire in the sheds at Friends academy.

Friends in Flames


if any. A student was assigned on a rotat-ing basis to “wait” the table. If anything whispered “family” in my mind, it was mealtime memories.

So often, mixing pre-pubescent genders can be a potential for inappropriate social behavior. At F.A., however, trust for the student body was given. Students were treated as responsible adults and responded in kind. What, I wondered, made discipline a non-issue at F.A.? After all, kids are kids. It came to me: F.A. was a “Village,” in every sense of Hilary Clinton’s “It Takes a Vil-lage”: Across-the-board mutual respect of the inhabitants for one another, a sensible communal standard for social behavior unobtrusively reinforced during daily communal interactions. Perhaps, foremost, the mutual caring that converts a gaggle of individuals into a vibrant, functioning, community. Perhaps this is FA’s greatest gift!”

Bob Burian ’52, Boarding Student

“I always liked the square dances held at the beginning of each school year. It

was a great way to introduce new students into the social fabric of FA. You kept meet-

ing new people by switching partners. You didn’t even have to know how to dance. The “caller” gave everyone instructions. Also the Hal-loween Tunnel under the old gym. Never too scary but

only the brave dared enter. I never knew who decorated the tunnel but whoever it

was did a great job. My favorite memory is waking up early

on the last day of class before the Christmas Holiday to hear seniors (boys and girls) pa-rading through the dorms singing Christ-mas carols. When I got to do that, I felt like I was really participating in preserving a long-held FA tradition.

For most of my time at Friends, the an-nual Faculty-Varsity field hockey match was observational entertainment for me. I can remember the girls singing, ‘Faculty, the Varsity is after you today. Our advice is to get on your knees and pray.’ And then there was ‘Sleepless’ the night watchman in the goal. He made an amazing stop of the ball just before it entered the goal. Only in my last year did we guys accept the girls’ challenge to actually play this game. It cer-tainly gave me a new perspective. Ouch!”

Dan Hornbostel ’52, Boarding Student

F ive years ago, Dan Hornbostel, now deceased, sent me his memories of being a

boarding student at FA.“I’ll start with Mr. Springsteed. He

supervised wood shop. He allowed me to design and build a cross bow…a real one! It worked. He could have squelched it. He helped us build a coffin for our Halloween

party. Skeeter Dill, my room-mate, and Barry Downes and I carried it around to the girl’s gym floor. On cue, I’d sit up from within. We won the prize. Mr. Spring-steed taught me drafting

and perspective. Years later these skills became a real plus. Above the shop was the music room and Miss Brymesser who was to become Mrs. Stubbs. The time we spent listening to classical music was a no-stress experience – the drama and excitement of Brahms and Beethoven. The Russians have been an escaping relaxing technique for me ever since. Let me pay respects to Mr. and Mrs. Wilt. Mrs. Wilt always presented us with a summer reading list. I must attribute my library of dusty books to her enormous diverse knowledge of so many classics. Mr. Wilt, a somewhat intimidat-ing teacher, led me through Augustus and Julius Caesar. I must pay tribute to Mr. Wilt for his treatment of me after our senior Latin finals. If one knows a few key words, the translation is pretty much constructed, given a few verbs. I got one key word wrong. I thought I had nailed the exam. He invited me over to his home a few days later and

Christmas Party in the common room, 1948 (left to right): margaret hiatt ’51, Father Christmas, probably mr. Wesley Callender (teacher of history & physical education); front row: unidentified lady with hat, Barbara Van Vranken ’51, marc Lust ’49; back row: Gay Brinckerhoff ’49, Louise hallock ’49, unidentified boy, Laurie Buhrer ’51, miss Jean Brymesser (teacher of music), not identified, margot Berdanier, harry Dill.

Continued from page 17

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asked me what my ambitions were. I told him I planned to be an engineer.

When I received my grades, I saw that I had passed Latin. I learned later I should have failed that exam. Maybe Mr. Wilt had figured that something else was more important. And last I pay tribute to our headmaster, Mr. Hiatt. He honored me at a football awards banquet in our senior year. After receiving a concussion early in the football season, Dr. Galbraith, school physi-cian and parent, said, “No more football for you.” Mr. Roper, the coach had had a super season. I stood in the hallway during the dinner and Mr. Hiatt saw me peeking out. He said that I had put in many years play-ing for FA. Parents stood and applauded. It was the greatest award of my life. Every time I watch “A Christmas Carol” on TV, I think of Mr. Houghton reading it to us in the dorm. It was a wonderful prep for the coming season. Bless him! Bless them all! as Tiny Tim would say.”

Heather MacDonald Poetzsch ’52, Day Student

“I have so many memories but do remember how mortified I was when

Billy Willis put a rose in my inkwell in the 6th grade. I don’t remember who it was

that landed a small airplane on the tennis courts when we were in high school. I always loved it when my parents went away and my sister and I boarded for a couple of weeks a year. Just going into

the dorm rooms was fun. Guess I wanted to be a boarder at heart. I vividly remember in third grade when my desk and I were put out into the hall as punishment (when I stood up when we were told to sit down) – most embarrassing because I was in full view of parents, teachers, and students passing by. Connie Miller will certainly remember when she and I had our desks placed on either side of Mrs. Wilt in Eng-lish class because we had committed some crime. (I don’t remember what we did.)”

Fritz Schreiber ’52, Day Student

“This story does not qualify for the higher academic category, but I viv-

idly remember an incident that happened in 7th period study hall. All of a sudden there was a tremendous commotion in the

back of the study hall when one student (Karl Kamphau-sen) leaped out of his study desk knocking it over and shortly thereafter there was a loud bang where the desk had been. Karl had ignited

a firecracker which he was going to throw out the window, but instead it dropped in his lap and subsequently on the floor where it exploded. The study hall monitor, Mr. Stockton, who was of the small intellectual sort, stood up behind the lectern, looked at Karl through his glasses with sorrowful eyes and said, “Karl, why did you do this to me?” Karl was then invited to report to the headmaster, Mr. Hiatt, who was downstairs standing in front of his office door. His greeting statement was, “I wondered how long it would take before someone ap-peared down here.”

Bob Wilkinson ‘52,

Boarding Student

“My funniest study hall memory is the day an English exam was be-

ing given to several forms in the study hall. Mrs. Wilt was in charge. She gave instruc-

tions and asked if there were any questions. Hands went up. Mrs. Wilt answered one or two, then she noticed a boy named Duncan Sterling waving his hand. She walked down the aisle and really

slapped him hard. The complete room gasped, then went quiet, wondering what was going on. It turned out that the boy had cribbed answers on the palm of his hand. Sixty years ago, and I can still see the look on both of their faces. After that there were no more questions.”

Wendy Buehr Murphy ‘52,

Boarding Student

“I have a welter of FA recollections thanks to being a boarder from 1949

to 1951 (Fifth Form). These were happy years. I loved being away from home, making good friends and finding the school wonder-fully peculiar in its ways. Seating at meals put me

at the Wilts’ table and I remember being scolded for passing dishes across the table instead of around the table. Carolee Curtis was my first roommate and we had a love/

Frieda Carroll ’50 sits on the shoulder of marc Lust ’49 with Gay Brinckerhoff ’49 seen through Frieda’s right arm.


Commencement, June 1947 (left to right): marjorie Peterson ’47, Louise ancrum ’47 hidden behind Janet Forster ’47, Carol hagen ’47, horton Kennedy ’47 (with glasses), Gonzalo Pardo ’47 (hidden behind Carol hagen).

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hate relationship because we came from such different worlds. I was the scholarship child of two artists with deep roots in rural Westchester as well as Manhattan, and she was the only child of a widowed business woman from Great Neck.

The old girls’ gym was terrible. It was like playing sports in the bottom of an old swimming pool. I learned to work the school’s switchboard and began working in the kitchen and waiting tables in 4th Form. One of my jobs was to feed old lettuce to the science lab rats and mice. Social Studies teach-er, Mr. Callender, also supervised study hall. One night someone tied a string to his chair and the flag pole. When he pulled out his chair to sit, the flag fell down.

In the dorm, the boys used a blow torch on the doorknob when Mr. Callender was coming to catch them out of bed after lights out. He had a habit of very slowly closing his hand around the knob. The boys made a ruckus to draw him out. Not sure how it turned out. There was great excitement when a much requested washer and dryer arrived in the girls’ dorm. I think it only worked half of the time.

Miss Ruff was our dorm monitor and math teacher. She was very strict and not

much fun. We were surprised when she announced that she was leaving to get married. We threw her some kind of party on our floor. My last year I lived up on the third floor with Terry Larson. Ours was a huge room with one window that looked out on the back courtyard and the boys’ dorm. Our closet was large enough to live in. I never missed a boxing match on the ra-dio when Joe Lewis was fighting. I’d set up my radio in the closet feeling wonderfully wicked. I have to say how much it meant to me to enjoy the hospitality of Terry Larson and her family in Douglaston. The living room was lined with a fabulous collection of Civil War books. The Larsons hailed from Alabama. Terry and her mother played dual pianos. The house was very old and had been a stop on the Underground Railroad moving escaped slaves north. I

certainly loved my messy artistic family with their many divorces and trau-mas, but the Larsons rep-resented a world of orderly relationships and stability without shouting and worries. Who couldn’t envy that? Down the hall was very sophisticated Jill Hindle who had grown up in Greenwich Village and knew everything about the world of artists and film personalities. Her

father was the well known photographer, Len Lyon.

Bill Hicks was my first date, ever. Our wonderful French teacher, Mrs. Gordon, whose class I sat in for three years fas-cinated me with her accent which was pure Missouri. She also had remarkable legs – sturdy and straight as furniture. I remember listening to the radio in the Common Room when General McArthur delivered his “Old Soldiers Never Die” speech. I remember those class trips to the NYC Theater and seeing Bob Wilkinson with his hair dyed orange in “Life with Father” and also “Darkness at Noon.” At Champlain Restaurant, a 3-course dinner

was $2.50 and lunch $1.25. I was very sad to leave Friends, but my parents now had a nice house in CT, where there were good public schools. Just before the end of my 5th Form year, I was one of those who dared to chance everything and sneak out late at night to the estate next to campus after Sleepless had made his rounds. About 6-8 kids showed up to swim in the pool. We all snuck back, hoping to enter via the door at the base of the tower, which had been left ajar. But Sleepless was waiting for us and caught two girls. I somehow managed to elude him. Two days later I was nursing a terrible cold and at the dining table the teacher said simply while looking straight at me, ‘Confucius say that girl who swims late at night catch bad cold.’ Nothing more was said, but I knew I had been outed.”

Theresa Larson Scheetz ’52, Boarding Student

“The project of compiling memories of the 40s and 50s is wonderful.

Those were such great years and the tales are bound to be hysterical as well as historical! Lots of funny times like setting the alarms clocks off in night study hall, which Mr. Cal-lender was proctoring – it nearly drove the poor man

mad and was done more than once. In junior year those of us who sat in the back row of Mr. Stubbs’ geometry class were dubbed the “Goldbrick Society,” much clever ribbing by Mr. Stubbs, but I don’t believe we had a secret handshake. The all-time escape occurred one spring night when several beds were stuffed and a small contingent snuck out of the dorms over to the next-door estate, Cherrywood.”

Carl Kamphausen ’49, football center, and marc Lust ’49, quarterback in 1948


In junior year, those of us who sat in the back row of Mr. Stubbs’ geometry class were dubbed the “Goldbrick Society,’ but I don’t believe we had a secret handshake.”

mr. albert Bird in 1947 and James hursh ’49

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Margaret Whitney Shiels ’52, Day Student

I came to Friends in 1941 as a 2nd grader in the Lower School, which was then, I

believe, where the Middle School is now. My memories are influenced by World

War II. My father was a pilot flying “The Hump” in China, Burma and India. The only communication was through V Mail. Many times the censor had black marks on these tissue thin

letters. Since my grandmother had lived in India as a child, my father sent her a letter where he recited Jack and Jill went up the

Hill in Farci so she would know where he was. Everything was rationed. To this day, if I take more than one paper towel in a rest room, I feel a pang of guilt. There was no butter either at home or at school. Coupons were needed for certain goods. The papers were full of the local butcher being arrested for black market meat. Having raised three children and driving what seemed like a million miles in car pools, I look back and realize that my mother never drove in a car pool. I rode the bus until I graduated. There was no whining. You accepted it. One admonition I heard over and over at school was: “Everything you do reflects on yourself, your family, your school and your community.” I taught that to my children and grandchildren. There was a caring, loving, but disciplined environment at Friends. I did not see prejudice while in the school day. It was a tolerant atmosphere. We had children of every faith and from other countries. In the Upper School, my boyfriend was Catholic and my best friend from 3rd grade, until she died in 2008, was Jewish. Going to Meeting once a week did not offend anyone. How can you be offended by meditating si-lently? So much teaching was through experiential learning. When we studied the Middle Ages, we went to NYC to the museum. When we studied Egypt, we not only went to the museum but we made paper in the classroom and ink like the Egyptians. The Lower School head mis-tress was Mrs. Peggy Giles. She was a disciplinarian, but always fair. Her daughter, Deirdre was a playmate of mine in Locust Valley, where I lived with my Grandmother White until I was 10 and we moved to Oyster Bay. Our 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Houghton, was the wife of Victor Houghton who became headmaster much later. She saw in me a shy child who liked to read and to write. She encouraged my little poems and entered

them in the Lower School Press. It was a mimeographed literary newspaper for all grades. (I found a copy of it in a box not long ago.) Every day after lunch, we took a nap. In the basement there was a little nook where there were individual cubby holes where we each kept a blanket. Cots were set up in the big basement room and we rested. Miss Rohm taught “Physical Expression”

or some such thing that was Dalcroze. We had special shoes to dance in her classes. I remember she had us listen to music like Peter and the Wolf, and then we would pre-tend we were the cat or the wolf. Since we were near NYC, there were constant air raid drills both at school and in our home neighborhoods during the War. I learned later that German submarines had actually landed on the beaches of Long Island. I know that there were

patrols on every beach, so I don’t know how that happened.

I think everyone felt safe and valued at Friends. The fact that for over 200 years the Quakers had believed in equal education and respect for girls and women was taken for granted until I entered the “real world”

Joan Watson ’51 and John John Johnston ’50

I think everyone felt safe and valued at Friends. The fact that for over 200 years the Quakers had believed in equal education and respect for girls and women was taken for granted until I entered the “real world.”

Three Lower Schoolers pose for the camera.

hanging out in Study hall for Saturday movies, 1947. Front row: John Ball ’48, John hull Jr. ’48 (smiling), addison Yeaman Jr. ’49 (with glasses). Second row: Jane hindle ’48, Philip martell Jr. ’49 (partially hidden behind Yeaman), John hanford ’49 (seated on desk), Nancy Patty ’51 (seated at rear left), Joan Starbuck ’49 at rear standing on left), anita Kappner ’49 (at rear standing, but blurred).


Feature Story22



and found that not everyone felt that way. At Friends, girls always took part in competitive sports. No wonder my grand-mother Whitney said to my husband to be, “My, but you are a brave man.” When I went to college in Virginia, I found girls who had never played a sport; had never written a research paper and had not taken SATs or Achievement tests. When I moved to Texas, I found that girls were taking Home Economics and macramé instead of math and science; I was horrified. Two of my children went to Trinity Valley School. It was so similar to Friends, boasting a clas-sical education. I served on its Board of Trustees.

At Friends we learned that it is a big world out there. There are many cultures and traditions. In Lower School we learned the music of other countries from the Mexican Hat Dance to French Christmas carols.

My favorite teacher was Mrs. Olive Wilt, my English teacher in 7th and 8th grade and again in 11th and 12th. I adored her. She influenced my decision to major in English in college. She encouraged my writing and encouraged me in all things. How grateful I am to her. We corresponded until she died in a Quaker retirement home in PA. Mr. John Nicholson taught religion. He arrived after being a conscien-tious objector during the War. His was the best religion course I ever took. On the first day of class, in which we all had our Bibles,

he said, “This is no longer a holy book. From now on this is the history of a peo-ple.” So many times we wish we could say thank you to someone who had influenced our lives in a positive way. Some years ago I read in The Meeting House where someone in another class had located him and had printed his address. At last, I had a second chance. I wrote to Mr. Nicholson to tell him how he had enhanced my life and was so happy to receive a reply. I learned that Friends had been his first teaching job. He was still teaching religion even in the retirement home.

Friends Academy encouraged me to be the person I was to become. At school we heard, “Give service, give service.” I have always given service to my community, my schools, colleges and my children’s involvements like serving on the boards of Boy Scouts, Camp Fire, YMCA and being President of the PTA. I am class secretary for both my college and my FA class. Here in retirement in Kaufman, a town of 6,400, an hour southeast of Dallas, I started a Book and Author Luncheon to benefit the library. We just had our 11th and have sold as many as 200 tickets to people as far west as Fort Worth, Dallas and all around east Texas.

Thank you Friends Academy!

Donn Andre ‘54, Faculty Student

“When I noted that you were compiling memories of Friends

from the 40s and 50s, the first was of our beloved pizza joint, Stango’s, which I believe is still operating. Mine was of the boarding student’s era but I had the “enviable” position of being a faculty child and living on campus, but with

my parents instead of in a dorm. So, I had a lot of freedoms – like going out at night in my car or with someone who had one and could drive at night, or having a steady girlfriend nearby. One of our favorite things to do was to go to Stango’s in the evening after football games. The boarders were very jealous of our hours and wheels.

Those boarders included my classmates Bob Stearns, Ward Burian, Jamie Reid, Gene Depolo, plus Dick Henderson, Al Garib, Herb Cares and Bruce Whitely. Many times, my driver and usual com-panion, Tiny Dickerson, and I would take orders for pizza deliveries after hours and bring them back to the parking lot at the back of the boys’ dorm. The boys had a lookout watching for our arrival and the ordering parties would drop a rope with belts or whatever to attach to the pizza box so that it would remain horizontal while going up. Money for the pizzas would then be lowered to us. Mssrs. Stubbs and Payne both had rooms on that side of the dorm but never let on that they knew of our escapades. (I think Mr. Payne had a slice now and then.)”

Ward Burian ’54, Boarding Student

“I will always remember Friends Academy with the same kind of fond

memories that one has of their family and the home where they grew up. Indeed, as a boarding student from 1949-1954, Friends was my home and the faculty was my extended family. Whenever I think back to those years, I am

engulfed with nostalgia partly because of how time miraculously enhances good experiences but mostly because I was

Field Day 1947, left to right: harry Dill ’52, mr. h. Rogers muse (boys’ physical education instructor), unidentified boy, runner at left unidentified, Colin macLachlan ’47 (runner at right), Daniel hornbostel ’52 (spectator), unidentfied boy at right.

Dance in march 1948: Suzanne Ray ’49 and Theodore mauss ’50.


Feature Story 23



truly happy there and able to realize my abilities. I know that this is not a fantasy because my brother, Bob ’52, and I share the same feelings and we are fortunate to have lived there during the Golden Years of our dear old FA. It is hard to believe that the 125th anniversary is at hand and that 50 years have passed since we celebrated the 75th with pageants, parades, costumes and games. Just the thought of this ages me a bit even though I still think of myself as young. The years at FA were magical for me. Whether it was earning 12 varsity letters, singing in the glee club, or head-ing student council. There was a fire there that sparked many of us, and I have often wondered if it was lighted by the dedi-cated faculty, an unusual number of gifted students or perhaps the post war environ-ment. In fact, it was probably all of these things together with the sense of kindness and civility fostered by the Quaker spirit. Although only a handful of the faculty or student body was Quaker, I can’t help but believe that the simplicity and fundamen-tal goodness of that faith was always pres-ent and exerted an influence on our daily lives even though we were not aware of it.

As for memories, who can forget the un-

defeated football team of 1951 or the un-defeated basketball team of 1954? Or the Halloween gauntlet in the musty tunnel, sledding at night on the front lawn down to Duck Pond Road. The pranks in study hall, the Christmas Carol Concert and the seniors singing carols through the dorms at 6 a.m. The Common Room, the sneaks to Glen Cove for pizza or to Bayville Beach on warm weekends in May and June. The water fights in the boys’ dorm, the cheer-leaders, the Candy Store in the rec room, waiting on tables in the dining room, that had table cloths and was decorated with Jim Stockton’s sports murals.

Of course, there was ‘mystery meat,’ which appeared like clockwork for Wednesday night dinner. The wakeup bell at 7:15 a.m., the girls sunbathing on the roof, the proms and victory dances. Oliver Jones, the best teacher I ever had and George and Jean Stubbs, Headmaster Merrill Hiatt and his fam-ily (especially Jean), Victor Houghton and family, the Andre family, Henry and Olive Wilt, Ed Paine, Lou Roper, Rod Pellett, John and Bertha May Nicholson and Henry Greene who ate an earthworm to raise $1 for the French Committee. The faculty lived in “genteel poverty,” but were all devoted to our fulfillment. We owe them our gratitude and every time I hear

of one passing away I feel as though I have lost a part of my family.

The 1940s and 1950s were truly the Golden Years. It was a very small school (35 in a class), with limited facilities and yet it excelled in academics, sports, and ex-tracurricular activities. When I compared secondary schools with my Dartmouth

classmates, I always came away knowing how lucky I was to have been at Friends. Although it was not easy to transition from a small coed school to a large men’s college I was academically pre-pared. I know it is quite different now as it was

when my daughter Jennifer graduated in 1983. In many ways, it is probably a better school with so many excellent facilities.

When I started the Alumni Association in 1964, there was no endowment and the school faced a very uncertain future. Our first Annual Giving raised but a few thou-sand dollars. There was no Meeting House magazine, and we had no class secretaries. What an evolution! Yet, when we think back to that Golden Era and the Age of Innocence we shared, I am grateful. In the words of our Alma Mater, “We will ever prove most loyal to thy memory.”

Friends Academy is grateful for the generous donation of over 150 captioned archival and mostly unpublished photos that we received from a donor, who wishes to remain anony-mous. A selection of the collection was used for the cover montage and within this compilation.

Eight-person pyramid, bottom row, left to right: Frieda Carroll ’50, anita Kappner ’49, John hanford ’49, unidentified girl; middle row, left to right: Gay Brinckerhoff ’49, Suzanne Didier ’50, Sally moffet ’50; top: James Stockton ’50.

mr. and mrs. merrill hiatt, headmaster 1947

arvid Strom ’48 in football uniform in 1948.

In the words of our Alma Mater, “We will ever prove most loyal to thy memory.”

Sports: Go FA!24


This was a season of firsts, from the ice to the track and everywhere in between. Personal bests and school records broken; plus, building for the future. Take a look back at the 2012 Winter Sports season.

{Winter 2012}

MIKE DAMM, AL QuACKENBuSH, DAVID GATOuX/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Sports: Go FA! 25


Varsity Girls Track conference champ

Varsity Track & Field: Season of Records and Medals

For the Varsity Track and Field team, this winter season was one filled with great accomplishments. The athletes’ evident determi-nation and unparalleled enthusiasm from the first day of practice set the stage for this amazing season, filled with countless person-

al records, school records, and medals. Although the team performed well throughout the first few meets, the season truly took off at the Hispanic Games, one of the largest meets of the area at which over 250 schools from

the northeast compete. During this meet several Friends athletes medaled both in individual events and relays. The athletes continued to work hard for the following few meets and arrived at the Conference Championship Meet prepared to compete.

Although injury unfortunately left the boy’s team with only a few healthy competitors, the team placed 7th in the conference. The girl’s team, however, arrived ready to run and captured the Conference VI Championship title. Two weeks later, the girl’s team placed 4th overall in the County Cham-

pionship Meet. The strong performances at this meet qualified the team for the state qualifier, for which three FA runners placed.

“We are so excited as a team about this achievement,” said Assistant Coach Lauren Carballo. “But what is really great is that we have such an extremely young team,” she added. “This is a team with a lot of heart and spirit.”

individual awards

school awards

state qualifiers

aLL-CoUNTY – SHEKINAH PETTWAY (ALL CLASS), CANDACE TAYLOR (CLASS B AND ALL CLASS), LYDIA GRAHAM (CLASS B), KELSEY MARGEY (CLASS B, ALL CLASS), SuNNY LOSTRITTO (CLASS B), MOLLY SuLLIVAN (CLASS B), KATRINA GARRY (CLASS B)

aLL-CoNFERENCE – SHEKINAH PETTWAY, CANDACE TAYLOR, LYDIA GRAHAM, KATHERINE HOM, KELSEY MARGEY, SuNNY LOSTRITTO, MOLLY SuLLIVAN, KATRINA GARRY, ROB ADAMS

4 x 200m Relay – SHEKINAH PETTWAY, CANDACE TAYLOR, LYDIA GRAHAM, KATHERINE HOM

4 x 400m Relay – CANDACE TAYLOR, LYDIA GRAHAM, MOLLY SuLLIVAN, KELSEY MARGEY

4 x 800m Relay – KELSEY MARGEY, MOLLY SuLLIVAN, SuNNY LOSTRITTO, KATRINA GARRY

600m, 800m, 1000m, 1500m – KELSEY MARGEY

1500m – KELSEY MARGEY

Section VIII Distance medley – CANDACE TAYLOR

55m – SHEKINAH PETTWAY

The Girls Winter Track team captured the Conference VI Championship title.

FA 2012 Winter Sports

Coach Franklin Thompson was selected as Conference 6 Coach of the Year.

2012 RoSTER: Robert adams, Christos aniftos, Catherine Bechand, michael Bernardini, Patrick Crowley, Ian D’Silva, Katrina Garry, Charlotte Gelfand, Simran Ghool, Lydia Graham, harmony Grodsky, anthony Guevara, Ian hom, Katherine hom, Zachary Kriesberg, Jordan Leeds, Domenica Lostritto, Glenn Lostritto, Bolade majekodunmi II, Kelsey margey, Sahil massand, Carolina mocorrea, Nicholas moretto, John o’Brien, Joseph Paniccia, Steven Petrocelli, Shekinah Pettway, Casey Rosen, Evan Sayre, Jake Silverman, maureen Sullivan, Candace Taylor, Chretien Teitelbaum, aidan Vascotto and Jonathan Weinberg.

Sports: Go FA!26


Varsity Girls Cheerleading: An Excited Crowd

at Season’s End

The 2011-2012 Varsity Cheerlead-ing season was exciting, rewarding,

and challenging all at the same. The team started off low in numbers but by season’s end, became mighty in size. This season the team featured nine girls on the squad.

Although the squad started slowly in their first game, they improved in leaps and bounds by the last game, especially as far as leading the crowd and creating a spirited atmosphere, where everyone had smiles on their faces and enjoyed the games. “Great appreciation is owed to the captains, who were responsible for inform-ing the rest of the team about schedule updates and making sure everyone was on the same page,” said Coach Jessica Spina.

According to Coach Spina, the remain-ing seniors were also a great help in setting a positive example for the younger members of the team. Through injuries, which brought their numbers down to 7 by season’s end, the younger members of the team really shone as well. “Challeng-ing, but rewarding,” recalled Coach Spina. “Seeing our performance at the end of the season I know the girls were very proud of themselves and I feel that is very Reward-ing as their coach.”

2012 RoSTER: Kathryn Bauer, Sarah Chartash, Grace Covelli, Paulina Gordon, Nicole Katz, michelle Quick, Taylor Quinland, Gabrielle Rechler and Cori Rooney.

Varsity Girls Basketball: Youthful Team Retires

Just One Senior

The 2011-2012 Girls Varsity Basket-ball season finished strong after a

season of drastic improvement. With many new faces as well as a new coaching staff, expectations were high as the girls moved towards the Long Island Championship. “The team understands that we play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back,” said Coach Ryan Schneider.

Led by the uncanny leadership of lone senior Jalisa Clark, Friends beat rival East Rockaway for the County Championship at CW Post. The team ultimately lost to

Southhold High School in the Long Island Championship.

2012 RoSTER: Jessica Babicz, Jeanne Budd, Julia Ciardullo, Jalisa Clark, Kayla Guerin, Kasey Katz, Kristina Kim, Rose mangiarotti, Taylor mcGowan, madeline o’Brien, Lindsay o’Sullivan, Danielle Ramsay, Catherine Sullivan and marissa Tidona.

individual awards

aLL-CoNFERENCE – LINDSAY O’SuLLIVAN (GAME MVP IN THE COuNTY CHAMPIONSHIP)

aLL-CLaSS – KRISTINA KIM, ROSE MANGIAROTTI


1st County Championship since 2007

Senior Gabrielle Rechler gets the crowd going.

Lindsay o’Sullivan goes for a basket between two defenders.

AL QuACKENBuSH/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Sports: Go FA! 27


The Boys Varsity Basketball Team con-cluded its season with a tough loss to

East Rockaway High School in the county finals. The team finished with an overall 13-5 record. A successful regular season was concluded with three straight wins, two of which avenged earlier defeats. The strong finish enabled the Quakers to ac-complish what only three previous teams have done at Friends; that is win a Public School Conference Championship.

FA’s 11-3 conference record was good enough to share the conference title with Malverne. Bennett Felder was named to the All-Conference Team and both Kellan Sehring and Marc Godlis were named All-County. “This is a very young team that learned many things as the season progressed,” said Coach Steve Hefele.

“The commitment to team goals and the sacrifices that we make for each other are extremely important as are all the little things that go into making us a complete player and team. We will miss all our se-niors next season and thank them for their hard work, dedication, and leadership. We are already looking forward to the contri-

butions from our younger players from both the varsity and a very strong JV team for next season,” said Coach Hefele.

2012 RoSTER: andrew Bauer, Drew Chartash, Bennett Felder, John Forlines, marc Godlis, alek

Kucich, matthew Kuczmarski, Tyrone Perkins, Jonathan Ramsay, Eli Rousso, William Sands, Kellan Sehring, Tyler Sehring, David Sher, Dwayne Taylor, Jonathan Nierenberg. managers: Rebecca Broxmeyer, Sierra Linder, alix Liss, alana Stein and Nina Vascotto.

The JV Boys basketball season this year can be summed up into three words,

“character and hard work.” This season the boys finished with a 14-4 record, which was one more win than last season. The team finished with a league record of 12-2. Much of their success this year had to do with the growth of their players from last year and how they matured on the court. The addition of incoming athletes added their own character to the team. With the combination of the two, it all blended into one great team.

From the first day of the season the team was instilled with the passion to work hard. They were told that hard work will get them a long way. “As a team we prided

ourselves in defense,” said Coach Matt Simeone. “Working hard on the boards and the defensive side of the ball won us a lot of games this season,” he added.

According to Coach Matt Simeone, every night a different player made a big play and contributed to the team, both in victory and defeat. “I am very proud of all the hard work the boys put into this season. We had a lot of fun and I wish the boys the best in their spring seasons,” finished Coach Simeone.

2012 RoSTER: Nicholas Chapman, Jordan Christian, Julian Christian, matthew Feinstein, Thomas Frey, Cyrus holder, Joseph moodhe, Griffin Nesfield, Jonathan Nierenberg, Gregory Petrossian, Brandon Rosenbaum, Jordan Schuss. managers: Jamisen Beechler-Ernst and Natasha makowsky.


The Boys Varsity Basketball team finished with a strong 13-5 overall record and 11-3 conference record.

MIKE DAMM/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Freshman Thomas Frey drives to the basket against a defender.

Varsity Boys Basketball: Public School Champions

JV Boys Basketball: Growth and Maturity Helps Lead to 14-4 Record

Sports: Go FA!28


JV Girls Basketball: Despite Injuries,

Team Stays Positive

The Junior Varsity Girls’ Basketball team played a season full of

challenges. They started off looking strong by defeating Oyster Bay and Great Neck North, but then faced a more challenging schedule to prepare the girls to transition into a higher level of playing. In mid-season, players were moved around to compensate for injuries. The girls continued to be very positive and accepted the responsibility of playing different positions well.

The 2011-2012 team showed great im-provement in their individual skills, team offense, and team defense. They finished the season with 4 wins and 12 losses, but proved to be a very competitive team with most of their games being very close. “I am truly grateful to have worked with such a wonderful and humorous group of ladies,” said Coach Cheryl Feldman.

2012 RoSTER: Javana Clark, Riley Denihan, Kayla Guerin, Jacqueline Korren, Rebecca melman, Sarah o’Kane, Katherine Pappas, Elana Pinto, Danielle Kahn and Danielle Ramsay.

FA hockey is back! After a 21-year layoff, FA skated its first hockey team

this winter. Under our unique set of circumstances, the team enjoyed a success-ful season. Understandably, the team had its ups and downs, but both Coach Sven Pamuk and Coach Craig Pinto are excited for the future of the program. According to Coach Pamuk, the team had a nice blend of youth and experience and will return all players next year – except our “glue guy,” senior Zack Westerman.

“We are excited for the future of the program because this group of players showed heart and effort in games and in practice,” said Coach Pamuk. “Our team was hit by injuries and illness, posing an extra challenge to an already thin roster. However, our guys persevered, and when, in most games we were skating a team with 9 or 10 skaters, heart and effort can be want-ing,” Coach Pamuk added.

But not with this group. They battled, played hard, and refused to be out-com-peted by the opposition. “These are the types of student-athletes a program needs to grow – and we have them in abundance here. No one embodies these qualities more than our Captain, Joe Macy, and we would like to recognize him for his leader-

ship skills this season,” said Coach Pamuk.The team had a 2-6 record on the cam-

paign, earning their first victory against Birch Wathen Lennox by a count of 6-2 at Iceworks.

“Coach Pinto and I experienced a special year in building a program from the ground up,” said Coach Pamuk. “We are extremely fortunate to have such a great group of kids who buy into the vision of a sustainable and successful hockey program at Friends. We look forward to next year!”

2012 RoSTER: Jason Baskind, Struan Coleman, Emilio Cuesta, Eric Friedlander, Perry Gordon, harrison Graham, adam hartog, Timothy Ingrassia, Connor Lavin, Joseph macy, Jack Piuggi, Jack Statfeld, Jack Viener, John Westermann, Christopher White. managers: meghan Johansen and Emily LeoGrande.

DAVID GATOuX/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Friends academy defenders race after the offense at a recent game.


JV Ice Hockey: A Great Start After a 21-Year LayoffMIKE DAMM/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Freshman Danielle Kahn

DAVID GATOuX/FRIENDS ACADEMY

Freshman Jack Statfeld preparing for a game.

Sports: Go FA! 29


JV Ice Hockey: A Year of Firsts

When the new Friends Academy Upper School ice hockey team took to the ice on January 25th in Syosset against Birch Wathen Lenox School, they not only

made the ice their own – they made his-tory – winning their first game in 21 years.

Friends skated an Upper School hockey team for the first time this season since 1991. An active Middle School program, reinstituted in 2008, served as a successful feeder program for this year’s team.

Although the team finished the season at 2-6, the team enjoyed many successes and, according to Coach Sven Pamuk, has a solid foundation in place for upcoming seasons.

“Our hockey team had a nice blend of youth and experience with varying degrees of skill, but played with high levels of effort and desire,” said Pamuk.

These qualities were essential for this year’s team; as the FA hockey team had only 14 players, requiring each member of the team to play heavy minutes on the ice.

The team faced further challenges of injury and illness, but

remained committed to furthering the process of building a successful and sustainable hockey program here at Friends Academy. “Friends Academy can be proud of the character and

determination by which these student-ath-letes represented our school in competition,” said Coach Pamuk in summing up the season. Team managers included Meghan Johansen and Emily LeoGrande.

Led by Junior Captain Joe Macy, the team will return all but one player (Zack Wester-mann) for next year’s season.

Friends Academy ice hockey came full circle this season as freshman Jack Statfeld, son of Brian Statfeld ’84, played defense on this year’s team. Brian was a member of the 1984 team that won the Nassau County High School Hockey League Championship.

This tradition and legacy has only increased the enthusi-asm for the future. “The program is being built to emulate the championship caliber teams of past Friends’ teams,” said Coach Pamuk.

“We are fortunate to have a collection of passionate and com-mitted student-athletes who share the same vision,” he added.

Celebrating the program’s first win in over 20 years. The team returned to the ice after a 21-year hiatus.

The final score of the game against Birch Wathen Lenox School.

Faculty Milestones30


Liza Talusan-Vega and Jorge Vega are living in the Boston area with their three children, Joli (age 8), Jada (age 5) and Evan (age 2). Liza is the Director of Intercultural Affairs at Stonehill College and recently started her doctoral program in education. She is also singing again, and has joined the Boston-based band “The Heartsleeves!” Jorge is the Director of Technol-ogy at the Sage School and is still busy with his comic book writing. Liza sees Randall Phyall ‘04 because they work in the same office, and she recently caught a visit from Kathy Dineen and her son Kyle. Joli is doing well and continues to be cancer-free, and she was recently adopted by the Tufts University Women’s Soccer Team as an honorary teammate through an organization called TeamIMPACT. Jada loves hip hop and acting (she takes after Jorge!), and Evan loves terrorizing his big sisters. Thanks to the impact of Breakthrough Collaborative, Liza is focusing her doctoral studies on making educational change for students at risk and has been working closely with a non-profit called “Coaching for Change, Inc.” which seeks to create microenterprises for young people through athletics.

News from former Middle School teachers matt Bradley and melinda Wenner Bradley: “Melinda is working at her alma mater, Westtown School, serv-ing as the sixth grade dean and teaching history and Quakerism. She is also very active with religious edu-cation in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. I am enjoying my eleventh year as Head of School at West Chester Friends School. All three of our children are at my school: Ellie in 5th grade, James in 2nd, and William in PK. I am having fun getting back into coaching, which I haven’t done since leaving FA, now that James is playing basketball at the Y. Ellie will graduate from WCFS in June. While I will miss having her in my school, I am excited that she gets to go to Westtown where she will have (I think many FA middle school alums will agree) a great history teacher – her mom!”

Former Faculty NotesFaculty Professional Development

matt and melinda Bradley’s children Ellie (5th), James (2nd) and William (PK) attend West Chester Friends School.

Upper School World Languages and Cultures teacher Angie Martin has been selected by SPARC, a two-year program run by Friends Council. The SPARC program is based on the principles of teacher formation from Parker Palmer’s

“Courage to Teach” work. Teachers from Friends schools are selected to take part in this learning community, using collaborative inquiry and

reflective tools for self-directed profession-al development. Together, over a two-year cycle, the group engages in restorative and inspiring explorations of the art and calling of teaching in Friends school communities, renewing the energy and spirit of our work. SPARC is in its fifth cycle and 70 Friends school educators have participated in the program. According to the program’s website, “sending schools report experiencing a ‘spiritual boost’ as SPARC members return to share reflec-tive tools with the faculty, emerging as confident spiritual leaders in accreditation processes, sharing clearness protocols as a tool to connect with teenagers, co-leading a school’s Quaker self-study process, and more.

Upper School English teacher Gary Schmidt was accepted as a presenter for a workshop at the NYSAIS (New York

State Association of Indepen-dent Schools) Teaching with Technology Conference. Gary shared the results of a pilot program he implemented at

Friends that not only taught Journalism students the nuts and bolts of news reporting, but shifted their thinking from being consumers of news to producers and curators of news. Each student was assigned to one or two beats to follow throughout the semester, and students used Twitter feeds and iPad technology to follow current events and create compelling, interactive news stories.

Lower School third grade teacher Kara Lewis ’86, helped spearhead and bring the new Lucy Caulkin’s Writer’s Workshop to

Lower School classes. In addition to the current 6+1 Traits of Writing program, Kara and Lower School Learning Specialist

Kim Gore attended the August Writers Institute at Teachers College Columbia University and put together a framework and curriculum modules for each grade from Kindergarten through fifth grade. After reviewing all of the units of study for Primary, K-2 and Grades 3-5, they created user-friendly handbooks for each class-room teacher. This curriculum allowed teachers to present a more formalized program that will help create a community of writers.

Quaker-in-Residence John Scardina led a workshop entitled “Creating a Spiritual Autobiography” for the NYSAIS

Religious Diversity Confer-ence in New York City on Thursday, April 5. In it, John presented eight guide questions that would

enable students to explore their own faith traditions and share the diversity of their spiritual journeys.

Middle School History teacher Phil Cicciari was accepted as a presenter for a workshop at the NYSAIS Teaching with

Technology Conference. On Feb. 22nd Phil and Middle School Principal Steve Rubenacker delivered a pre-sentation about the 6th grade

iPad pilot program to participating teach-ers and administrators. Some had iPad programs in their school and others were getting started with the process. A spirited discussion and Q&A were the highlights of the workshop, as well as an overview of the logistics involved and an explanation of apps that were used in teaching at Friends and classroom examples.

* Friends Academy helped support their academic studies.

A Quaker Education: A Gift For Life

We are grateful to all who choose to support the uniqueness

of a Quaker education and the mission of Gideon Frost by making Friends Academy a charitable priority.

Your generosity helps to create a community that is committed to building strong minds and kind hearts throughout our entire student body.

Thank you for Making a Difference in the Lives of Our Children

www.fa.org/give | (516) 393-4269

Alumni News32


Dear Fellow Alumni,A beautiful, early spring has made the campus come

alive and sent a blast of spring fever and senioritis through FA. I’m sure we all have our own special memo-ries of springtime at Friends, whether it was class on the quad, sitting in Highland Park, spring athletic practices, counting down the days till graduation, or spending a few last cherished moments with a classmate. For me, spring has always been an exciting time as I watch Mother Nature come alive after a (sometimes!) long, dormant winter. If you have a chance, stop by campus and witness this springtime animation.

In a way, the Friends Academy Alumni Association Board (FAAAB) has mimicked springtime this year. We have added five dedicated alumni to our board. Our new members, Jenna McCann ’06, Courtney Devon Taylor ’01, Tom Pascarella ’95, Liz Winchester ’91 and Colleen Moran’91, have energy, excitement and talents that have enhanced our Alumni Board and promise to add new dimensions to our continuing mis-sion of connecting with alumni of all ages. They have accepted their new roles with en-thusiasm, and I look forward to great things from them. Please join me in welcoming this outstanding group of alumni volunteers to our ranks.

Other key volunteers in our success as an alumni community are our class reps. It is with their help that we all connect not only with our alma mater but with each other as well. These dedicated alums are responsible for gathering class news and composing class notes...the first section of The Meeting House we all turn to when our

magazines arrive. When you get a chance, contact your reps to thank them for their commitment to our school and fill them in on any news in your life. Your class rep also works with Kathy Fox in the alumni office to plan reunion events when your class is celebrating a special reunion year.

One highlight of spring is the annual New York City Reunion, which will take place on Monday, June 4th at the Princeton/Columbia Club from 6-8 p.m. I encourage you to attend this wonder-ful gathering and join over two hundred other FA alumni for a fun evening of friendship and networking. This year we will be honoring Margaret Lindner, FA’s beloved art teacher, who is retiring after 28 years at Friends.

Spring is also the time when we welcome a new group of alumni to our association, the Class of 2012, our graduating seniors! This is done at Fourth Day Honors in June. This is also the time when we honor one of our own as the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Lastly, it is never too early to circle October 20th on your calendars; that’s Fall Fair and Homecoming. Classes ending in 2 and 7 will be celebrating special reunions. Class reps will be

contacting you soon to make arrangements for this spe-cial weekend. The Class of 1962 will be celebrating their 50th Reunion that weekend, beginning with a luncheon at the Marion Jackson House on Friday, October 19th.

Hope to see you all on June 4th in NYC, and in the meantime, enjoy the spring!

Peter Stein ’79, Friends Academy Alumni Association President

from the presidentPeter Stein ’79

Help us help you and your fellow alums stay connected

Send us your news and address and e-mail updates:

Alumni OfficeFriends Academy270 Duck Pond RoadLocust Valley, NY [email protected]; 516-465-1796

Connect by website:

FA's password-protected Alumni Community: www.fa.org/alumniClick on ALuMNI DIRECTORY to search for classmates by last name, maiden name, class year and profession.

are you on Facebook?

Become a member of the Friends Academy group. Head to www.facebook.com/FAalumni for more photos, updates and links to other classes.

1 2 3

*If you do not know your username and password, e-mail Kathy Fox in the Alumni Office: [email protected].

Alumni News 33


Reconnect at FA's Largest Community Event

Friends Academy Alumni AssociationAlumni are the living legacy of Friends Academy.

50th Reunion!

Volunteers in classes planning special reunions will reach out to classmates soon. More information is on the alumni pages of the FA website: www.fa.org/alumni. Contact Kathy Fox in the Alumni Office with questions: [email protected] or 516-465-1796.

Class of 1962

25th Reunion!

Fall Fair & Homecoming October 19-21, 2012

Friday: 50th Reunion Luncheon for the Class of 1962

Friday night: Potential class gatherings

Saturday: Fall Fair followed by the Homecoming Reception on campus for all alumni. Saturday night: Reunion Dinners off campus for classes ending in 2 and 7.

Sunday: Meeting for Worship in Matinecock Meeting House

Class of 1987

Special Reunion Celebrations for Classes Ending in 2 and 7

Alumni Profiles34


While at Friends, Diane Loviglio ’01 was involved in a little bit of everything that the school had to of-

fer, including the school band, the theater department’s musical productions, and the choir, where Diane also formed a new stu-dent acapella group. “I volunteered all the time, with Summerbridge and Habitat for Humanity on the weekends and with the Glen Cove Day Care Center on weekdays.”

Diane was the head of the WATCH Committee (We Are The Community Helpers), and she began the Appalachian Service Project in the Upper School. At the time, Diane was studying to become an architect so she took several art classes, including AP Art.

After graduating from Friends Acad-emy, Diane moved to Pittsburgh because she was looking for a change. Having

grown up in a small town, where “ev-eryone knows your business, I wanted a real change from that. I wanted to live in a city, but be far away from home.” So, Diane attended Carnegie Mellon, a school where she never thought she would be ac-cepted, but learned a lesson to never accept NEVER as an answer.

“I was told I couldn’t get in, so stubborn me applied to prove a point and when I got accepted, I thought, well it’s the furthest school I applied to and it has an archi-tecture program – let’s do it!” Diane got accepted into the BHA program (only 30 students were accepted into this program that year), which allows its students to not only take architecture classes, but also attend classes in the Humanities Depart-ment, providing students with a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities and Arts.

“From the get go, I knew I’d be studying

Diane Loviglio ’01

Clean energy advocate and

innovative startup founder

Diane Loviglio from the 2001 Lamp yearbook.

By Hayley Kucich ’03

When asked if I would be interested in interviewing FA alum Diane Loviglio ’01, a slew of high school memories flooded me, especially the time we spent on stage together during my fresh-man year, Diane’s senior year, for Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes.” I thought to myself, “Diane Lovi-glio, the always smiling senior; always laughing and enjoying

life. And involved with everything at FA – I mean a little bit of everything!” And this thought was, and continues to be shared by every-one who has had the opportunity to befriend Diane.

A successful entrepreneur, Diane

has her roots in Glen Cove, where she grew up only a few minutes away from Friends Academy. She spent her school years through twelfth grade at Friends Acad-emy and though she thought at the time that she would rather be a “normal” kid and attend public school, she notes that “Of course in retrospect, I’m glad I stayed at Friends.”

Diane Loviglio ’01 created Wattbot,

an automated recommendation

engine that provides the consumer with

energy recommenda-tions to save money

on energy bills.

COuRTESY OF DIANE LOVIGLIO

Alumni Profiles 35


Diane Loviglio ’01: Clean Energy Advocate and Innovative Startup Founder

in an interdisciplinary program and that was so much more exciting than being in architecture studios year after year. So, when I finally did start taking classes at Carnegie Mellon, I signed up for an Intro to Anthropology class and loved it. So I declared that as my Humanities Concen-tration.”

Like Diane’s time spent at FA, her time at Carnegie Mellon was simi-larly filled with becoming involved

with a little bit of everything. “I organized the Habitat for Humanity trips during Spring Break, I was an RA and a CA (com-munity advisor in charge of the RAs). I studied abroad in India, South Africa, and Brazil to learn about urban development in third world countries. I was one of the first people to live in the Co-Op at Carn-egie Mellon. I became a Fifth Year Scholar and started a peer-to-peer environmental program called Eco-Reps.” Eco-Reps is a program that trains students to act as RAs for the environment. Each dorm had one eco-rep and they organized environmental programming for their dorms each month.

Interested in green living, Diane created Carnegie Mellon’s first and largest green roof, which subsequently was written up in National Geographic for the green roof bus shelter pilot project that she helped de-velop in San Francisco (for more informa-tion on this article, please visit http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/05/green-roofs/cook-photograph. (Scroll through until you find a photo of the bus shelter, which you can then click.)

Through Diane’s fifth year of her schol-ar program at Carnegie Mellon, Diane knew that she would be officially finished with formal education because she wanted to dive right into the work force and learn through experience.

She moved to San Francisco because, “I heard it was the greenest city in the United States and I’d never lived that far west.

When I arrived I was surprised at how non-green it was, but I’d already moved so I decided to make the best of it! Little did I know it had a huge startup community, so I co-founded a startup called Wattbot.”

Wattbot is an automated rec-ommendation engine that provides the consumer with

energy recommendations to save money on energy bills. Diane worked for Wattbot for four years, raising angel money and garnering support, but it eventually closed down and Diane moved on to become a freelance researcher for startups.

Currently, Diane is a User Researcher at Mozilla working on projects that have yet

to launch, as well as being a startup mentor for two incubators, 500 Startups and Web-FWD. Diane is also a master teacher on skillshare.com, where she teaches classes about product design and research.

In addition, Diane has also developed and implemented an annual conference called FailCon, which is a one-day confer-ence for technology entrepreneurs, inves-tors, developers, and designers to study their own and others’ failures to prepare them for success.

When Diane finds a minute to breathe and to pick up a telephone (which from writing this seems almost impossible to fathom!), Diane likes to stay in touch with her fellow FA classmates, especially with Michelle Javian, Carole Ingrassia Bates, and Tanya Bajaj. Diane also hired her former classmate, Dan Tran, to create animated shorts for her startup a few years ago.

Diane has formed lifelong friend-ships from her time at Friends Academy and realizes that these

relationships are valuable throughout all phases of life. Not only does Diane value the friendships that she formed at FA, but she recognizes that Friends Academy has provided her with so many opportunities in which she could grow and evolve as an individual, and most significantly as a leader.

Through these opportunities to lead, Diane garnered the confidence to do great things, better things, and “to imagine and convince others that these things are worth spending time and money on.”

A dream has to start somewhere, and in more cases than not, I have observed through my ample interviewing of alums, and most recently with Diane, that most of us have our dreams planted in the roots of FA, and on that note… what more is there to say?

Diane Loviglio: “Will single-handedly build an entire village.”

Interested in green living, Diane helped to create Carnegie Mellon’s first and largest green roof, which subsequently was written up in National Geographic. The top of the green roof included grass-es, perennials, logs and a small rock-bed pond.

The “Living Roof” of Carnegie mellon’s hamerschlag hall in 2008.

“Seniors in 10 years...” From the 2001 Lamp Yearbook

Alumni Profiles36


By Kathy Fox

Alumni Affairs Coordinator

In 1997 when Mats Lemberger ’02 entered Friends Academy as an eighth grader, he hit the ground running, and he hasn’t stopped since. One day in Up-

per School Meeting for Worship Mats spoke about running. Upper School Administrative Assistant Cathy Philipakos who shares Mats’ passion for running remembers his words. “He said one day while running, he realized that he needed to look up at what was around him and not just run. He said he realized that we should do the same in everyday life – look around and see what is really going on. I never forgot that statement,” said Cathy, “and still think of it often when I run; it always brings a smile to my face.”

Whether it’s running, cycling, singing, or building, Mats is always on the go. Along with this boundless energy, Mats also pos-sesses a positive attitude and a dedication to service. This dedication to service began at Friends Academy.

As Mats explains, “I count myself as very fortunate to have attended a secondary school that makes it a point to instill the value of community service at a young age. In particu-lar, I recall Mr. Lape’s love of old-time fiddle music and his involvement with an Appala-chian service project. I learned from teachers like Mr. Lape that the things we love most in life can be the basis for connecting with other people and adding goodness to people’s lives. If that was an innate feeling within me, that our greatest joys can inspire us to serve others in response to human need, then my service experiences at Friends only served to kindle and nurture that world view.”

Herb Lape recalls, “Mats was always thoughtful and committed to issues of social justice for the weak and took action through his leadership and active involvement in our service program. He embodies our commit-

ment towards putting faith into action.” After graduating from Friends, Mats

continued on this same path. Combin-ing his love for music with his commit-ment to service, Mats was the brainchild of Dartmouth College’s Festival of Humanity, a community-building event with great music and family fun held on the Dartmouth Green, which raised money for Dartmouth’s Habitat for Humanity. “One of my friends challenged me to come up with a way to bring together service and perfor-mance in a meaningful way,” said Mats. “Our purpose was to try to bring together the community through its performers, artists and cultural groups in one event celebrating a collective concern for service.”

Mats Lemberger ’02

Boundless energy for service, music

and medicine

mats Lemberger from the 2002 Lamp yearbook.

COuRTESY OF MATS LEMBERGER

mats Lemberger ’02 currently lives in rural

West Virgina, where he is involved in improving

healthcare and nutrition.

Alumni Profiles 37


Mats Lemberger ’02: Boundless Energy for Service, Music & Medicine

The event was a huge success. Mats explains, “After biking across America my first-year summer (for Habitat for Human-ity), I came back as a sophomore wanting to help our Habitat chapter raise the funds and support necessary to build a house. I get excited by ideas and it occurred to me that we could really create a unique sort of event that would not only support service at Dartmouth but would also be a community-building event between the college and surrounding communities, while giving all kinds of student groups the opportunity to take ownership of a shared event. After a lot of hard work, the Festival surpassed our expectations going on for three years, attracting thousands of people during that time and raising over $15,000 for student community service organizations.”

Mats’ love of music began at an early age and has remained a big part of who he is. “I was ten

years old when I first picked up a guitar. I busted a string the first time and put it away for two years. Then for my twelfth birthday my mom gave me a book of cow-boy chords. I put a new string on the guitar and never looked back. I nearly drove my parents crazy playing it as much as I did. When I got to Friends, I eventually joined the jazz band. What a great learning experience. I got to play with some great musicians and learned a lot about perfor-mance. I also sang in a theater production of Anything Goes and helped produce our Junior Musical, which featured original choreography and live musical perfor-mance. Participating in OriginalWorks was also a highlight for me. All such wonderful experiences that definitely fed my hunger for music.”

A native Long Islander, Mats cur-rently calls West Virginia his home. Mats explains, “Over Christmas break of my sophomore year, my mom and I took a road trip together. We drove the whole East Coast, from New York to Florida and back. Along the way we stopped in Macon, Georgia at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In the gift shop, I noticed a beautiful black and white photo gracing the cover

of a book about musicians keeping alive traditions of American music.

As I flipped the pages, rather unexpect-edly, a lady came up to me and, seeing my interest in the book, proceeded to tell me all about the foundation that published it – Music Maker Relief Foundation. She suggested that I call them up to see if they could use an intern. Well I did, and I was able to spend my junior fall interning with Music Maker.

It was a life-altering experience in many ways. But truly, it was because of this experience that I first went to McDowell County, West Virginia. Although my original reason for going there was to record music, I sub-sequently developed an interest in rural healthcare and in the quality of life for people in places such as McDowell County.

Life is very hard for a lot of people there. But every-

where I have lived in West Virginia, there has been a very strong sense of com-munity, particularly in the poorest areas. Having grown up in suburban Long Island, I was stunned to visit southern West Virginia for the first time. I had never seen such rugged countryside. Seeing the ruins of days when the coal mining industry put hundreds of thousands of people to work in the hills was like witnessing another world than the one I knew growing up.

In spite of social and economic struggles that continue to trouble communities in this area, some of the best people I have been privileged to know have made their homes here and have truly had an impact on my life. Huntington, WV, where I now live and study recently received the undesirable recognition of being named America’s unhealthiest city. Access to

healthy food is definitely a critical issue, particularly in the more rural areas of the state. The same is true all over America though. There is a growing sort of interest at the grassroots level in people living more active lives and choosing to eat fresh foods with more nutritional value. I’ve

been getting involved with Huntington’s Kitchen, a great resource for the community that addresses some of these issues.”

“I wrote a se-nior honors thesis on the

ethical significance of facial imagery in Stephen Crane’s writing. I first read Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage in Mr. Herscher’s 11th grade American Studies class. Something about his writing captivated me im-mediately. I saw an ethical undercurrent in Crane’s collected works that suggested a worldview in which, confronted with the universe’s indifference to human suffering, man himself becomes endowed with a sacred privilege to care for others in need.”

“When I took an EMT class several years later, it just clicked for me,” said Mats. “Medicine appeared to be the way that I could live the ideals that came to matter so much to me. Yet the pull to compose and share music is also very strong in me. I honestly feel a sort of calling to do both of these things with my life. Call medicine a vocation and music an avocation. Time will tell how well this will work out, but I feel more and more that I was put here both to reduce human suffering and to share music with people,” said Mats.

“In all, I’m happy, and I credit Friends with giving me a solid foundation for find-ing the things that give me purpose in life and the wherewithal to achieve them.”

“Call medicine a vocation and music an avocation... I feel more and more that I was put here both to reduce human suffering and to share music with people.”

Class Notes38


1934 Walter J. Wilson 548 N. Main St. Apt. 314Ashland, OR 97520(541) [email protected]

Walt Wilson, 95 years young, is enjoying life in his retirement home in Ashland, Oregon. He encourages his fellow alums to drop him an e-mail to reconnect. Look for more about Walt in Friends in the 40s and 50s: The Closest Thing to Home, starting on page 16.

1940 Florence Milyko Skinner4202 Avalon Drive EastNew Canaan, CT 06840 [email protected]

Joanne Tuthill munhofen has just moved from her home in Brookhaven, NY, a house, which her dear husband built from scratch – and a very beautiful home it is – to Williamsburg,VA. If you wish to contact her, here’s her new address: Mrs. Blair Munhofen, 3800 Treyburn Drive, Apt. B 122, Williamsburg, VA 23185 and phone: 757-206-1687. Florence Milyko Skinner reports that, “As for myself, I remain an active musician, still singing and teaching singing, despite the fact that I will be 90 this coming November 21, and still enjoying every minute. I am an avid, active opera attendee (try to say that quickly, good diction, please!) and concert-goer as well, travelling to NYC regularly from my home here in New Canaan, CT. I have been a widow since 1999. I would so enjoy hearing from any of my classmates out there: address: 4202 Avalon Drive East, New Canaan, CT 06840 and phone: 203-966-9475.”

1942helen Craft Price 173 Ocean Pines TerraceJupiter, FL [email protected]

MAKING A BEQUEST

TO FRIENDS ACADEMY

"I want my positive experience at Friends Academy to be shared by others."

Eric Koster '65 recently sat down to draft his will. Once his loved-ones were taken care of, he wanted to recognize what helped make him the

person he is today and to give back."My years at Friends were instru-

mental in making me the person I am today," Eric said. At Friends he was "motivated by gifted and caring teachers who lit a spark." He is leaving a bequest to Friends in recognition of the lasting impact they made on him. He has also made this gift to honor his parents, who strongly believed in the value of Friends Academy's Mission and who sacrificed so that he could obtain its benefits.

Eric wanted to help others get the kind of character-building education he was fortunate to get at Friends. He decided to make a bequest toward need-based financial aid – to benefit future generations of students. "I have confidence that Friends is true to its Mission, and I want my positive experience there to be shared by others," he said.

PLEASE JOIN MANY OTHERS, WHO HAVE INCLUDED FRIENDS IN THEIR ESTATE PLANS:

You can make a gift that has a substantial, long-lasting impact.You can leave a legacy and recognize the value Friends holds in your heart.You can make a difference in more students' lives with a bequest than with a gift that comes from today's income or savings.

a bequest is a simple way to make the maximum positive impact without compromising your lifestyle or budget.

For information on how to include Friends Academy in your estate plans, how to establish an endowment, or to discuss ways to match your interests with school needs, contact Director

of Development Jim Michalek at [email protected] or 516-393-4269.

Eric Koster '65 is a husband, father of three and a partner in a successful law firm. he enjoys sailing and has recently taken up motorcycle riding.

Strong Minds. Kind Hearts.


1945Joy Mayes Brown 2110 West Center RoadP.O. Box 239Otis, MA 01253(413) [email protected]

Sheila Morrisey Potter 37 Lawnwood AvenueLongmeadow, MA 01106(413) [email protected]

1946Evelyn Broglio Diefendorf 355 Lake Forest Drive, SWPinehurst, NC 28374(910) 295-6292 [email protected]

Turn to page 16 to read about Fred Laing who reminisces about the past in Friends in the 40s and 50s: The Closest Thing to Home, edited by margaret Whitney Shiels ’52.

1947 Read about Gonzo Pardo on page 16 in Friends in the 40s and 50s: The Closest Thing to Home, edited by margaret Whitney Shiels ’52.

If anyone from the Class of 1947 would like to be the class representative, please contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you!

1948marian Schwartz Feniger 16 West 77th St., Apt. 9ENew York, NY 10024(212) [email protected]

1949If anyone from the Class of 1949 would like to be the class representative, please contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you!

1950Suzanne Didier De Vito 59 West 12th Street, 16ANew York, NY 10011(212) [email protected]

1951George h. Gifford, Jr.12 Oak Ridge RoadStony Brook, NY 11790-2011(631) 751-7489

1952margaret Whitney Shiels 5427 FM 2515Kaufman, TX 75142(972) [email protected]

In this issue we look to the past as we reminisce about FA. You can read margaret Whitney Shiels’ article, Friends in the 40s and 50s: The Closest Thing to Home starting on page 16 with contributions from Dan hornbostel, Bob Burian, Bob Wilkinson, Fritz Schreiber, heather MacDonald Poetzsch, Wendy Buehr murphy, Theresa Larson Scheetz ‘52, and margaret.

1953Timmie Buck Wiant 6369 Pershing AvenueSt. Louis, MO 63130(314) [email protected]

1954 Turn to page 16 to read about Donn andre and Ward Burian who reminisce about the past in Friends in the 40s and 50s: The Closest Thing to Home edited by margaret Whitney Shiels ’52.

If anyone from the Class of 1954 would like to be the class representative, please contact us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you!

1955arthur m. Geoffrion322-24th St.Santa Monica, CA 90402(310) [email protected]

Naomi Johnson Dempsey 69 Webster Point Rd.Madison, CT [email protected]

harold (Sandy) abramson, Jr. is still an avid skier, at an age where some of us have stopped for fear of making younger skiers look bad, but comments that most of the snow at Okemo (VT) is man-made this year and not as much fun as usual. Doris Atwater Bouwensch is very happy in her senior living complex, Traditions of Wayland. She wanted to share with everyone her fond remembrance of Mr. Nichol’s class on religion, triggered by a lecture she recently attended on C.S. Lewis and his book Mere Christianity, which she hadn’t read since Friends. Sondi Conklin Wright recently celebrated her 74th birthday, and has a great photo to prove it. mary Foster Everett a few years ago moved around the corner in W. Hartford, CT to a senior complex because from there she can continue to do all the things she has been enjoying. Mary, her children and grandchildren are all well and life is interesting. She works with the League of Women Voters (younger people don’t seem to join it these days) and on the Board of the Community Renewal Team, which is involved in many civic pursuits including shelters, head start programs, etc. Just for fun, Mary goes to London periodically to “putter around.” art Geoffrion had the pleasure, during an early February trip to Salt Lake City, of visiting his godson Peter Louis Kling, Jr., his wife Amy, and their son Peter Louis (Trip) Klinge III. Peter (who came to our 50th reunion and is now a fully independent marketing consultant) and Amy are doing well, and Trip is adorable, bursting with personality, very well mannered, and very creative at making things with common household materials. Woody Glenn had open heart surgery last fall followed by a stroke, but he is on the mend now. He has retired from Brookhaven National Laboratory after 51 years, although he still does some pro

Class Notes 39

Sondi Conklin Wright recently celebrated her 74th birthday.

Class Notes40


bono work. His oldest son is a shipwright, his daughter a nurse at Huntington Hospital, and his younger son a lawyer in Cos Cob, CT. He plans to return to sailing this spring, with the advantage of an inside track on getting his boats repaired and on solving any health or legal problems that might ensue from his daring adventures. Keville Larson has sold Larson and McGowin, but continues as Chairman of the Board. A daughter, who works for the company, also lives in Mobile, and Keville expects to take her 7- and 10-year-old children skiing this winter. Keville’s son lives in Austin, TX and is in the computer field. Keville is involved in two national organizations: the Forest History Society and the Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils, which is a federal, state and private organization on the responsible use of fire for public safety, resource management, and environmental protection. Sarah Leonori Pusey sent a playful note last fall on 10 things she did during a recent 10-day period. Among them were: occupying Santa Rosa for a while, walking briskly many miles in her “barefoot” shoes – inspired by the book Born to Run – and enjoying every non-cushioned moment on the trails, writing her senator about her continued concerns re surveillance and her congressman about the type of communication necessary for her to continue being an informed constituent and supporter, and continuing her long-standing volunteer commitment to The Museum of the American Indian in Novato on a Miwok site. Classmates can read Sarah’s note in full on the class website. michael Volow and his wife Rebecca have survived a long kitchen renovation (to be finished any day now). Their daughter and son-in-law have moved from Buffalo, NY to Youngstown, OH which makes for a slightly shorter drive to visit their two grandsons (coming up on six months and three years old).

1956anne Wauchope Smith 297 London DriveBeaconsfieldQuebec H9W 5Z1Canada(514) [email protected]

1957Roger o. Sanders324 Fishing Ln.Deland, FL 32720(386) [email protected]


1959Charles Jameson 13464 Brightview WayGainesville, VA 20155-5535 (703) 743-1619 [email protected]

1960Dona Fagan arnow 14901 Talking Rock CourtNorth Potomac, MD 20878(301) [email protected]

1961Park Benjamin, IIIP. O. Box 368Oyster Bay, NY 11771(516) [email protected]

1962Randi Reeve FiloonP.O. Box 5495Ketchum, ID 83340(208) [email protected]

I had such a nice e-mail from Caroline meirs. She filled me in on her career, which has been so interesting. She was a public diplomacy officer in the Foreign Service and worked a lot with the media. She left the State Department two years ago “after completing numerous projects such as co-producing documentaries with international

TV crews and organizing workshops in public health reporting for more than 600 journalists around the world. Our focus was on preventing pandemics.” She also has been active in the Aspen Institutes’ writers group. Caroline lives in Alexandria, Va. and her phone number is (703) 671-1180. She would love to hear from old friends. Elizabeth Lowell is living in Monteverde, Costa Rica and working with the Episcopal Church there. Her e-mail is [email protected]. I had lunch with Carol Gordon Rutherford in December here in Boston. I hadn’t seen her in over 40 years. She has traveled extensively over the years, especially to Italy and India. She is also a collector and expert in Asiatic Art. I got to see part of her collection of “Gods” and one of her Gods is on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where she has had a strong affiliation for years. Nancy moran is living in Craftsbury Common, Vt., which is where she and Sandi Ray holland and I went to camp in the summers. Nancy has spent most of her career as a journalist and photographer. She started out as a police reporter for The Washington Post (Carl Bernstein took her job when she left!). She then became a metropolitan reporter for The New York Times. She and her husband moved quite a few times to various places – Saigon/Cambodia/Laos, Northern Ireland – documenting the history in those places for two years. She also has lived in Beirut, Paris and London. Nancy then moved back to New York City in the 80s to start doing commercial work, but kept on traveling abroad. It has been wonderful connecting with her too and you can see what she does on her web site www.nancymoranphoto.com. Chip malcolm is still in Middlebury, Vt. and I hear from him faithfully every year at Christmas. Chip is an OB/GYN and from the Xmas picture, I can attest that he has a beautiful wife and family. He and Robbie Vorisek still have their horses (I assume in Lexington, Kentucky) and race them, but I need more information about both of them (the boys, not the horses or maybe both?)! Congratulations to andrew merton whose first book of poetry has been published. Take a look at page 44 for information on it. The book is titled Evidence That We Are Descended from Chairs. Andy also reports, “I’m still Chair of the UNH English Department.....Life is good.” It also sounds like his whole family is thriving getting graduate degrees – and a marriage is coming up. Fred and I have been in travel mode, traveling to Italy last Fall and sailing with Sandi Ray holland off the west coast of Italy on alfie Sanford’s 50’ yawl. I got some


Class Notes 41

good advice from maria Olivieri Quinn as to where to eat in Florence and the names of some wonderful out of the way churches. Maria has an apartment in Florence where she spends part of the year. We also got to travel to New Zealand as our niece got married in Wellington, which is in the North Island. We built a wonderful trip around it and spent three weeks taking in that beautiful country. We now have 6 grandchildren which is just so much fun! Now, I need your help! Our 50th reunion is this coming fall and is October 19th-21st. Here is what is in place – the reunion begins with a luncheon at the Head of School’s house on Friday, October 19th at noon and ends with Meeting for Worship on Sunday, October 21st at 10:00 a.m. The class will be planning events in between, but do reserve some time for hanging out in the Alumni Tent at the Fall Fair (and I assume a good Football Game!) on Saturday, October 20th. The tent is open from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and followed by an All Alumni Reception from 4:30-6:30. We do need to figure out where to have our class dinner so your input is welcome! Does anyone live nearby that could handle the group? Or we could do it at a local club or a restaurant like Stango’s in Glen Cove???? Please let me know if you would be willing to help out. I need some men too! It has been a very long time since we have all been together. Please contact me at [email protected]. I would love to hear from you or better yet, see you next October! 1963Barbara Shoen Brundige 367 Split Rock Rd.Syosset, NY 11791(516) [email protected]

Paula E. howe4914 Eigel StreetHouston, TX 77007-3326(713) [email protected]

1964Suzanne Notides melzig 104 E. Hillcrest Ave.Richmond, VA 23226(804) [email protected]

1965Robert D. Tilden3640 County Road 16Montour Falls, NY 14865(607) [email protected]

1966helen Lotowycz Rising 98 South Bay AvenueBrightwaters, NY 11718(631) [email protected]

1967Diana Dickson-Witmer24 Brendle LaneGreenville, DE 19807(302) [email protected]

Scott W. Tilden506 Hogan CourtDoylestown, PA 18901-5900(215) [email protected]

Save the date! Oct 20, 2012 is Fall Fair and Homecoming, and the class of 1967’s 45th Reunion! Look for details soon.

1968Lesley L. Graham615 NW Murphy Blvd.Joplin, MI 64801(417) [email protected]

Once again it’s challenging creating some exciting news about our class and hard since we graduated 43 years ago but here goes for the friendly class of 1968: Sally Rising Dean shares, “Steve and I are happily living in VT, retired now (for 6 yrs) with an annual 3-month respite in the FL keys for a tropical winter respite. BUT we always come back in time for town meeting (first week in March) and to tap in our maples for the sugaring

Paula howe ‘63, melissa Fox ‘62, Diane Olding Stanley ‘63 and hannah Vaughan

RFK pays a visit to the class of 1967.

Class Notes42


season. We do 200 taps with buckets, hand hauling and a small evaporator, but it is work enough for the two of us plus a fun season for our family and friends. Everybody new to the experience is always amazed at how maple syrup is made AND how much work it takes. Pretty much everybody confuses sap and syrup, but we make a wonderful B&B time of it! I am happy to report that we are up to 4 grandchildren and can’t get enough of their time. As an aside, I am Facebook friends with Bob Piro. He and his wife are big equestrians (who would have thought?). I see many pictures of Bob jumping his favorite horse through amazing courses in horsing events. They also live in VT but more south of me...near Dartmouth College. I live near UVM, Burlington area. We haven’t met yet....after all these years! Kathy Attridge anas shares: From Indianapolis, I thank all of you who visited Indianapolis for the Super Bowl and enjoyed the hospitality of its citizens and the convenience the city offers for many venues. Karin Nelson: “Sorry, Lesley, I don’t have a single interesting thing to report, other than the fact that my broken foot is finally healed. :) Happy Spring!” Susan Abrams Butler shares, “Hi Leslie. Just read The Meeting House news on our classmates. It was good to catch up so I thought I’d fill you in on mine. Jay and I still have our own Structural Engineering business (27 years) in NYC. Our business continues to grow, so there is no retiring in the foreseeable future. Our daughter Meagan (25) is in her third year of her Ph.D at the Univ. of Glasgow, Scotland. Her subject is Gender History and she is hoping to get a job as a college professor. Our son Jared (21) is in his final year of college studying Paleontology and will be going to Montana (again) this summer for a dig. He is planning on doing his Ph.D in this area. He’s also the lead singer of a band call “Big Gunz” and they seem to have a following. My Dad passed away a few years ago, but Mother is still living on her own in Manhattan. Glad all is well with you and hope you have a good 2012.” Jim Evans: Jim let me know that he has nothing new to report and hopes to have more to report next time. Cliff Dacso shares that he and Sheri Dacso are new grandparents of Maya Elena Dacso, born in October to their son Matthew and his wife Premal Patel. Matthew and Premal are on the medical faculty at the University of Texas, 45 minutes away from Houston. Another daughter, Mara, is a dermatology resident at the same place so, minus Rebecca in San Francisco, the family gets together all the time. Cliff is juggling directing a research program with teaching and a clinical

practice. He is particularly proud of recently receiving his first breast cancer grant. Cancer prevention is a new line of research for him. All in all, it has been a period of intellectual and social growth for Sheri and Cliff and they are looking forward to the next 38 years of marriage. Greg Tarone stays in touch, is doing well, and says hi to all!! As for me, my news remains the same living in Joplin, MO. I started my 7th year working for the corporate office at Management Recruiters International. I am now The SW Regional Trainer which continues to give me the opportunity to do some travel and web-ex training that we call Cyber Coaching. I stay in touch with Kal and Judy Wynot – such fond memories for me teaching with Kal and a fabulous, lasting friendship. Stay in touch and help me out for the next addition and hopefully we can have a great 45th reunion in 2013. Be well – Lesley

1969Jane Forelle Casey 1190 Pequot Ave., P.O. Box 469Southport, CT 06890(203) [email protected] It appears that most of us survived turning 60 and, as Priscilla McNeary Cotton noted on our Facebook page, one can be slightly consoled by the fact that everyone in this group is also dealing with the same problem. “Checking out the posts here brings me right back to being a preteen – feels good!” Judith Fox Javelly perhaps put it best, “How can we be this age?” Judith and Bernard are still liv-ing in Coconut Grove and loving it. Both of their children are living in Washington, D.C. so they get to the nation’s Capitol regularly. Nicole was married 2 years ago to a fellow medical student and Alexander is in his sec-ond year at Georgetown Law School. He’ll be working in NYC this summer so Judith and Bernard hope to get to the Big Apple as well. melissa “misty” moody has moved back to Texas and loves being out in the country, near her grown children and grandchildren and around her horses. She is writing books and sharing Self-Healing whenever the speaking opportunities present themselves in the hope that it inspires courage in others to face the healing journey. She also hopes to offer workshops and retreats in the not-too-distant future. Bob and I had the opportu-nity to see the HAPPY movie, Roko Belic’s documentary that chronicles his global search to understand what makes people happy. Misty’s story was featured in the film which

was truly thought-provoking and inspiring. The story of her accident will also be airing on the BIO channel series Twisted Fate; her segment is Nothing’s Perfect. mary Baird cel-ebrated 25 years of marriage to Dave Nelson, who turned 65 to complement her turning 60 to which she aptly remarked, “I remember when that sounded so old.” Rankin, their dog, turned 100 (in people years) so lots of milestones to celebrate in Atlanta where Mary and Dave have made their home for the past 20 years. Dave’s retired, but Mary continues to provide consulting and market-ing research to the financial services industry. Elizabeth “Liz” Leslie Traver is no longer breed-ing American Bobtail cats although she does still show them occasionally and last year one of her show cats earned the Supreme Grand Champion Award. He was also the first American Bobtail in history to earn a Lifetime Achievement Award. Although she stopped breeding, Liz is still all about her feline friends and has a full house with 10 foster cats. Plus, she’s back into selling real estate, focusing on finding undervalued prop-erties suitable for investors to rehab and sell or retain as investment properties. Melanie Ross writes that she and Buddy are living with their 9-year-old son, Troy, on the pond in Roslyn Village near Rallye Motors-Mercedes, where Buddy works. Bob and I will mark 20 years in Southport, CT this spring and not much has changed for us. I’m still oversee-ing Tax & Treasury activities at Blyth and getting ready for the upcoming rowing sea-son. I was actually happy to move into the next age class and highly recommend finding a sport that rewards age with time handicaps! Bob’s still at RBC Wealth Management (he plans never to retire!) and Taylor, who I can’t believe turns 18 in a few weeks is heading off to Eton College for Spring Break where he’ll participate in an academic exchange program. Then, back to St. Paul’s to await the outcome of the Great College Admissions Derby and figure out how to spend the summer. A pend-ing policy internship with Mitt won’t be very helpful if he doesn’t get the nomination; so, he’s considering crossing the aisle (again) and going back to work for Senator Kerry in DC. Stay tuned and send news.

1970Eli abbe299 Ely PlacePalo Alto, CA 94306(415) [email protected]


Class Notes 43

1971Robin D. Campbell66 Vista Dr.Saratoga Springs, NY 12866(518) [email protected]

Craig Kronman37 Meadow View Rd.Orinda, CA 94563(925) [email protected]

1972Karen Spero albers 2513 Harris AvenueRichland, WA 99354-1637 (509) 375-5356 [email protected]

Save the date! Oct. 20, 2012 is Fall Fair and Homecoming, and the class of 1972’s 40th Reunion! Look for details soon.

1973Laura Wicker hackett 2420 Chatham CourtState College, PA 16803(814) [email protected]

Bill Dudjoc sends the following message of thanks, “Since 2006, many of you have supported my efforts to help fight blood cancers…This year FA friends account for almost 25% of the donations to date. I can see the Quaker ethic is alive and well.”

1974Evette Beckett-Tuggle2 Dana’s Island WayGlen Cove, NY 11542(516) [email protected]

1975Tilde Mariani GiacchèSalita Falconara, 1119032 San Terenzo di LericiLa Spezia, [email protected]

1976Nancy Toher hawkins 123 Duck Pond RoadGlen Cove, NY 11542(516) [email protected]

1977Chuck Cooperstein1332 Coral DriveCoppell, TX 75019 (972) [email protected]


The class of 1972 will be celebrating their 40th Reunion at Fall Fair and homecoming, october 20, 2012.

(Top) Front row: Tina Rose Erardi, Drew Diaz, Daphne Riker hagan. Back row: arthur “Chip” Behal, Tilde mariani Giacchè, Kevin hagan ’73, Vicki Chesler Kovner. (Bottom) Chip Behal with wife Joanne.

The class of 1977 will be celebrating its 35th Reunion at Fall Fair and homecoming on october 20, 2012.

Class Notes44


1978Thomas hawkins123 Duck Pond RoadGlen Cove, NY 11542(516) [email protected]

1979Pamela Picoli9 Johnston StreetLocust Valley, NY 11560(516) [email protected]

1980michael Salzhauer860 Park AvenueNew York, NY 10075(212) [email protected]

1981 Betsy Jordan Gahagan PO Box 12 142 Skunks Misery Road Locust Valley, NY 11560 (516) 759-6697 [email protected] Robert Blechman 42 South Knoll RoadMill Valley, CA 94941 (415) 810-8889 [email protected]

1982 Leslie oren & michael Poloukhine930 Embury St.Pacific Palisades, CA [email protected]@babygrande-inc.com Though many of us are doing well, the class of 1982 was sad to learn of the passing of our classmate Ruth mazzoni, who died in January 2012 after battling breast cancer. Most of us remember her as very sweet, very petite, and very hard working. Ruth was a well-respected credit analyst at Standard Bank Group in New York, and was married to Dr. Peter Bach of New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. According to her husband, Ruth hoped that people who wanted

to remember her would make contributions to the Museum of Modern Art, so to honor Ruth’s life classmates donated to MoMA in the class’ name. May she rest in peace. On a happier note, we’re happy to report that having reconnected at our 25th reunion in 2007, and now married and living in LA, we decided to pay back the FA karma by becoming the new class reps for the Class of 1982! We have been having a blast communicating with so many classmates via our “Friends Academy Class of 1982” Facebook group, and via email and phone with so many friends. After two and a half years, michael Poloukhine is adjusting to life in Los Angeles, enjoying wind surfing and surfing when time permits.

He is the owner of ReSquare Architecture & Construction and business is growing. Leslie oren continues running her boutique public relations firm, Babygrande PR, which specializes in television. Michael’s three kids are doing very well (they lived in LA with us for several years, but are now back in Connecticut), with Chloe, 19, a sophomore in college, Nick, 17, heading off to college in the fall, and Nina, 15, taking over the world as a high school freshman. We miss them, but are also enjoying being empty nesters! The good news is that we’re now traveling more frequently to the East Coast, so hope to see many of our classmates soon! Nancy Stein Woolf writes that she, her husband Dave, their 10th-grade twin daughters and

cornerauthor’sTake a look at some

of the most recent books and writings by Friends Academy alumni:

Andrew Merton’s ’62: Evidence that We Are Descended from Chairs.Veteran journalist and essayist, Andrew’s first book of poetry was recently pub-

lished by Accents Publishing and is a great read – 66 poems riffing on, among other things, love, death, the afterlife, tequila, platypuses, mud, mus-taches, Heisenberg’s Uncer-tainty Principle, bipolarity,

and chickens. Plus, there’s a cameo ap-pearance by the late Burt Lancaster, and a wonderful foreword by Charles Simic, former poet laureate of the U.S. For more on the book, plus a sample poem, go to:http://www.accents-publishing.com/evidence.html.

Poet Rory Brennan states,“Andrew Merton’s poems have many qualities that are both pleasurable and startling. He demonstrates the simplicity that is only gained by hard application, he brings a wry approach that flips the reader from an ambience of ironic nostalgia into the abyss of historical violence and personal

grief, he mixes a playful surrealism with the knack of capturing both the hilarious and the deadly, and pulls off the visual psychologist’s trick of making the familiar strange and puzzling. All of this is delivered in that most serious of all modes, a graceful sense of humour. This is one of those collections you will often re-read.” Jennifer Briggs Stanley’s ’88: Buried in A Book: A Novel Idea Mystery. Jennifer’s latest novel (her sixteenth!) was published February, 2012 by Berkley Prime Crime and written under her pen name of Lucy Arlington. Another one of Jennifer’s books, The Last Word: A Books

by the Bay Mystery is partially dedicated to former FA faculty Frank Brogan and Roger Erickson! Both novels are traditional mysteries set in North Carolina. They both have literary themes and are

available in most bookstores and online.

If you've written or published a book, please consider donating a copy to the Friends Academy Kumar Wang Library. Contact Library director Judy James at 516-393-4279 or [email protected].


Class Notes 45

7th-grade son are doing well and living in Chappaqua, NY. Nancy, who went back to school and earned a master’s degree in elementary education, is teaching part-time at an independent non-profit film center in Pleasantville, working with 3rd graders and teaching a visual literacy class. With Dave retired after 25 years on Wall Street, the family has been able to do extensive traveling during the summers, including past trips to Africa and China, and a trip planned to Israel in April. Nancy also writes that our classmate andy Stein is doing well, too. Married with four kids, and living in Sudbury, MA, Andy is a hand surgeon working at Boston University. Keith Gurland tells us that after graduation, he went home and had dinner with some relatives. Beyond that, Keith checks in as a self-described hard working musician (keep him in mind for that bar mitzvah, Nancy) living in Dutchess County, where he grows seven varieties of garlic. Joanne maisano writes that she is living in Virginia, working with a photographer and racehorse breeder, and excited for our 30-year reunion. Reconnecting through Facebook has been fantastic, and “meeting” (for the first time) individuals we spent four years with in high school. Had a good time speaking with Leslie the other day. It feels just like yesterday (couldn’t agree more, Joanne). From John Corcoran: Greetings all. I haven’t sent an update in a while but as I’ve just changed jobs for the first time in 20 years, I thought it was time. First, on the family front, I am married and living in New Canaan, CT with our 2 boys, ages 5 and 6. In 2011, we were happy to welcome my brother Andy Corcoran ’88 back to the States when he moved back from a three-and-a-half year stint in Switzerland. I have recently left UBS in Stamford and as of March 19, will be at Banco Itau (the largest private financial group in Brazil) in midtown, making me a commuter to NYC for the first time since my summer jobs in school. I will be doing basically the same thing I did before (helping companies and countries raise money in the international capital markets) but with more of a focus on Latin America than when I was at UBS. Maybe if some of you are riding the rails I will run into you. See you in the fall for the 30th! Robbin mitchell is living in New York City with her husband, Jeff, and their two children, Jack (9) and Ava (4). After many years working at Ralph Lauren, Robbin is now chief operating officer at Club Monaco, a division of Ralph Lauren, and Jeff is working at Goldman Sachs. For heather Johnston, life is pretty good in Brooklyn, NY. Heather writes: My two daughters, Erika and

Margo, are both in middle school (oh, what a cute age), yet Gordon is still as smitten with them as ever. I spend my time either at the stove or the computer. I’m still video blogging about food occasionally (http://sogood.tv) but I’m getting back to recipe and food writing for magazines, so perhaps a cookbook is in my future after all. It’s all good. I’ve been loving the class of 1982 page on Facebook, and also the occasional political FB discussion with a certain class rep who shall remain nameless... big props to his wife, though. Hi Leslie! Susan Peirez and I are conspiring to plan a 30th (!!??!!) reunion, hope to see you there. Be well.Susan Peirez writes: I am currently working as Director of Special Projects at the New York State Council on the Arts, an amazing opportunity to stay connected to personal passions: theater, dance, music, literature, museums, film and visual arts. One of my responsibilities is producing the Governor’s Arts Awards 2013, which is like our state’s Oscars. My sister Leslie Peirez ‘88 and I have just formed our own company, Foxhole Productions, working to develop our own film and TV projects. And I am excited to be working as a consultant on a fascinating collection of group panorama photographs called The Big Picture written by Joshua Sapan, President and CEO of AMC Networks, with a foreword by acclaimed photographic critic and essayist, Luc Sante. Princeton Architectural Press will publish the book this fall. Thank you Leslie and Michael for launching our class Facebook page and connecting all of us. See you all at our, gulp, 30th! Gary LaRocco survived the debacle that was the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, after working there for

nearly 10 years. He’s alive and well, living in East Setauket with his wife Marcy, and their daughters Allison (17) and Victoria (13). Rich (Ricky) Thatcher writes that he still connects with some of our classmates through Facebook, keeping them amused with his adventures, antics and various travels. Rich, who was working in banking, is married and living on Long Island, while following pursuits of historical restoration in Lloyd Harbor. After the bank collapsed in late ‘07 (one month after the FA 25th reunion) Rich started a whole new career in the beer industry (forgive the editorial indulgence, but Leslie adds this seems a fitting response to the economic collapse of 2007/8). When he’s not handling some sort of beer business matter, Rich leads the Long Island Beer & Malt, a non-profit organization that he co-founded in 2007. Their good works can be seen in all of LI’s beer festivals and their presence is known throughout the local beer industry. Rich is looking forward to possibly opening a brewery & restaurant in the next two years. (Keep us posted on that, Rich!) Louis Fortunoff is living in Old Westbury with his wife, Jennie, and two children. We also caught up with Doug Uhl, who left FA after 8th grade. Doug lives in Connecticut, where he works in software development. He’s been married since 1990 and has a son in 9th grade and a daughter in 3rd grade. Looking forward, we are pleased to announce that Susan Peirez and heather Johnston have graciously volunteered to organize our 30th reunion. Stay tuned for more news from them! Hope the rest of you are all well! Please keep those life updates coming! - Leslie oren and michael Poloukhine


Class Notes46


1983Caroline Kaplan21 Drake LaneWhite Plains, NY 10607(914) [email protected]

Laura Dilimetin66 Eakins RoadManhasset, NY [email protected]

Hi everyone! Despite my e-mail imploring you to send news, I only heard from one person. Thank you, Steve harper! Steve says, “I’m living in sunny Los Angeles (since 2010) where I’ve been acting and pursuing TV writing work. Last year I was thrilled to be in the CBS Writers Mentoring Program – a networking and training program for aspiring TV writers of color. In November I shot a commercial for Alltel (a cell phone company) and the same day I landed a writing job on the USA Network show Covert Affairs. It’s so much fun. I work with great people and it’s exactly what I’ve been aiming for. I’m writing an episode, now scheduled to be the sixth installment of our new season (which will start airing in July). There’s other info on me on my website(s): harpercreates.com and yourcreativelife.com. As I mentioned in my e-mail, this will be my last edition of the Class Notes. You can expect the next e-mail to come from Laura Dilimetin. It was fun hearing from all of you over the years. I’d like to thank Laura for taking the job on. Good luck, Laura!

1984Beth anne melkmann162 East 80th Street, Apt. 3BNew York, NY 10075(212) [email protected]

1985Laura Match Schaffer 16 Miles AvenueProvidence, RI [email protected]

I spoke to Wendy Messing Grauer, who said that she, her husband Gregg, and family recently moved down to Winter Park, Florida. Wendy is enjoying the warmth and sunshine, as well as the tennis. Their oldest child, Jordan, is a freshman at University of Michigan.

1986Kara Vassel Lewis147 Saint Andrews LaneGlen Cove, NY 11542-2233516 801 [email protected]

Chuck Ritter79 The PromenadeGlen Head, NY [email protected]

1987Barry D. Joseph67-66 108th street, D66Forest Hills, NY 10010(718) [email protected]

Emily Beiles Kaufman7 Beechwood DriveSaddle River, NJ 07458(201) [email protected]


1988Eileen Mc Glinchey hume 353 Hickory AvenueGarwood, NJ 07027(908) [email protected]

1989adam Fruitbine375 Faletti CircleRiver Vale, NJ 07675(201) [email protected]

Click over to The Updated FA Alumni PortalAnd Start Connecting!Class pages >> Slideshows of Alumni Events >> Calendar of upcoming events >> Contact Your Class Rep >> Find Other FA Alumni

www.fa.org/alumni


Joan monaco315 East 72nd St., Apt. 18-LNew York, NY 10021(646) [email protected]

Greetings Class of 1989! The focus of this column was to ask everyone for some memorable moments from our years at Friends Academy. I think there are too many great ones to choose from for our classmates! Kathryn maris submitted her favorite FA memory which is printed as a breakout to this column…it’s an enjoyable read! Vik Iyengar writes that his memorable moments involve his friendship with Adam Ross, whom we dearly miss. “Whether the arena was academics or handball, we were competitive, yet we always had an unparalleled sense of sportsmanship and positive energy that brought out the best in each other. I miss that spirit of rivalry and camaraderie that ultimately helped make me the person I am today.” On another note, I received a theatre update email from one of those theatre-goer websites and this e-mail centered on Stephen Kunken, which was a wonderful read. Stephen was recently cast as David Halberstam, the award winning journalist, in The Columnist on Broadway. Stephen was cast with John Lithgow, Margaret Colin, Boyd Gaines and Grace Gummer from “Smash.” The Columnist is anticipated to open at the Friedman Theatre on April 25, 2012 and is the creation of Tony and Pulitzer Award winner David Auburn. It is slated to be one of the hottest performances on Broadway and is a must see! michele Pauporte and her son Tiger live on the Upper East Side. He is an adorable 2-1/2-year old, and Michele is enjoying being a NYC mom. They are up for playdates anytime!! Gail Havekotte Vlacich is busy as usual with her career and her travels. She recently returned from a great vacation in the Grand Caymans where she spends much of her free time. Her son Taylor keeps her busy and he is adorable as ever! While in the Grand Caymans, Gail spends much of her time doing photography, a passion that has turned her professional. Her prints have started to sell very quickly and her website will go live in the very near future where we can check out her work. Stay tuned. I also received a recent invitation in the mail for a fundraiser for a new nonprofit organization named “Social Promise” that was started by Sharon McGee Crary and her sister-in-law Sarah McGee. Social Promise supports “critical health and educational resources serving impoverished Ugandan communities. By

promoting awareness, we seek to empower other people and institutions to support these vital humanitarian efforts. Conveying the achievement and promise inherent in these efforts, we hope to inspire a community dedicated to a spirit of altruism.” Keeping this column short and sweet to save room for the other class notes for a change…be sure to check out Kathryn maris’ memory from FA in this mag. Until next time, JoAn.

I find it impossible to choose a single favorite memory from 11 years at Friends, but today I am thinking about science: Mr. Abbene’s chemistry class. Though I was deficient at math and science, I sort of ‘got’ chemistry: I could go to the blackboard – the old-fashioned ones with chalk – and map out a molecular structure without thinking about it much. I was particularly excited by the assignment to describe the physical process of thunder and lightning. I was late handing

Class Notes 47

in the artsalums

Tony Award nominee (Enron), Stephen Kunken ’89, was recently cast as David Halberstam, the award winning journalist, in The Columnist on Broadway. Stephen was cast along with John Lithgow, Margaret Colin, Boyd Gaines and Grace Gummer. The Columnist opened at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on W. 47th Street on April 25, 2012 and is the creation of Tony and Pulit-zer Award winner David Auburn. According to MTC, “Columnists are kings in midcentury America and Joseph Alsop (Tony and Emmy Award winner John Lithgow) wears the crown. Joe is beloved, feared and courted in equal measure by the Washington political world at whose center he sits. But as the ‘60s dawn and America undergoes dizzying change, the intense political drama Joe is embroiled in becomes deeply personal as well.”

Sebastian Arcelus ’95 starred on Broadway as Buddy in Elf – The Musical which ran last holiday season, ending its run in January of 2011. Sebastian’s visit to the North Pole was just one stop in an illustrious line-up of Broadway hits such as Jersey Boys, Wicked, Good Vibrations and Rent.

Will Roland ‘07 recently performed in a semi-staged reading at the IRT Theater on Christopher Street. The play, Another Kind of Love, by Crystal Skillman is a darkly comic tale of three musical sisters coming together to do a recording of one of their mother’s old hits, and about one of their daughters trying to figure out how she can avoid the mistakes her mom and aunts have made as she makes her way through life and love.

(From left) Stephen Kunken ’89, margaret Colin, John Lithgow and Boyd Gaines star in The Colum-nist, now on Broadway.

Class Notes48


it in – I always handed papers in late – and told Mr. Abbene, by way of explanation, “My life is in shambles!” He smiled wryly, a generous response to a privileged 15-year-old describing her life as “in shambles,” and was gracious enough to accept my essay late and even give it a good grade. The following year I took Physics, which by contrast, I found impenetrable. I’m ashamed to admit I read Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar under the desk while Doc Richardson talked about the velocity of rocks being dropped off cliffs. Deservedly I got a poor grade, wrecking my father’s plans for me in the medical establishment. Fast forward 20 years. I received a commission to write a poem in collaboration with a world-renowned – wait for it – particle physicist. After shuddering at the irony, I got down to business, revisiting a subject that had once filled me with dread. When I went to Paddington Station to greet my Oxford physicist, Mr. Abbene and Doc Richardson were with me on the platform. They don’t know they were there, but they accompanied us to the Hilton where we drank soup and talked for three hours about mass on the quantum scale, the God particle, and the possibility of time travel. They didn’t say, “You should have paid more attention in our classes,” but rather, “It isn’t too late: we gave you the tools and you can do this.” Weeks later, when I was writing the poem, it was my English teachers who gathered round my desk, reminding me of more graceful ways to phrase things and the importance of meeting a deadline. That poem was a team effort. Go Friends. – Kathryn maris ‘89

Why

Before I was Godas you know Him to beI liked to siton my quark benchand stretch my legs,take in the void,have a snoozethen wake and sketchplans for the future.

There was no timeand then there was—too much time—and as I have eyeson the back of my headI saw it all:the beginning, the end, and all the carnagein between.

When I sat on the benchI used to likelooking ata pagoda I madefrom the finest woodfrom the first treethat would make no soundwhen it hit the earthin an earless time.

And then one dayI was disturbedby a soundthat was a wordlike “I” or “sky”(it wasn’t clear)and I looked to findthere was a manin my pagoda!

I could only concludehis word was “why”:he repeated himselfand had no legsand probably wassorry for himself,but it was hard to hearand harder to seefrom my preferred distance.

I saw him betterwith binoculars,but had forgotten his nameand the era of his sufferingand where he was from—then or now—though it’s all the same,and they all say “why”—it’s the Question of the Day.

I know I could havebanished himbut I let him stayfor he gave me ideasand though I didn’tsleep as well,my dreams were more vivid,I switched on the light,and my sketches became great.

– By Kathryn maris ‘89

This poem first appeared in Dark Matter: Poems of Space (ed. Maurice Riordan and Jocelyn Bell Burnell, 2008), an anthology of poems on cosmological subjects by historical and contemporary poets, commissioned and published by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in the United Kingdom. ‘Why’ was written in collaboration with particle physicist and writer Frank Close, author of Antimatter, The Void, Lucifer’s Legacy,

Neutrino and other books about aspects of Physics. The poem was inspired by two questions in Professor Close’s writings: What was God doing the night before Creation? and Did the universe form itself out of the future?


1991michael Fox1209 N. Citrus AvenueHollywood, CA 90038(646) [email protected]

Colleen Doyle moran 10 Arbor WayMorristown, NJ 07960(973) [email protected]

1992Clayton Siegert100 I StreetS. Boston, MA 02127(617) [email protected]

michelle Smith harlan reports, “In October, our son Zachary became a big brother to Samantha Michelle. I’m back at work (I’m a Director in Risk Management at Credit Agricole CIB) and enjoying motherhood. My husband was recently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserves and he serves in New Jersey. After nearly 10 yearsof projects, we finished renovations on our home in New Jersey just in time for Sammy’s arrival and I will never buy a fixer upper again. Looking forward to our 20th reunion this year.” And speaking of the 20th reunion:




1993Natalia Porcelli Good 2 Tondan LaneLattingtown, NY [email protected]

Danielle Valenti Smith 420 East 72nd StreetApt. 6JNew York, NY 10021(646) [email protected]

Exciting news from Serenety hanley ‘93: “I was just named an Innovator by Campaigns and Elections magazine. I’m honored to be included in this list of great minds who are always thinking of the best ways to include more people in the political process.” Read more about Serenety and her company at http://grassrootstargeting.com.

1994heather Upton269 Ohio St.Pasadena, CA 91106(626) [email protected]

We kick off the latest round of class news with some exciting announcements: adam Bernstein was married to Jessica Manis in September 2011 at Raphael Vineyards on

LI. Kristin Kelly Pieper and Damian Pieper welcomed baby Jack in May 2011 – twins Liam and Conner are busy showing their baby bro the ropes. Another FA couple, Danielle Lia Van Riper and Philip Van Riper, had their first child, a baby boy named Sloan in early June 2011. And just a few weeks later my husband and I welcomed a baby girl, Reilly. Congrats everyone! Several of our classmates have recently moved from the NY metro back to the Island, including alana Teutonico and Jay Lynn. Future FA parents? I see Fall Fair photo buttons in your future…amanda Scholl Boudry has moved to Ithaca, NY, where her husband Wally Boudry is now an assistant professor of finance at Cornell. Their little girl Cricket is in Pre-K and looking forward to her first trip to Disneyland this spring. mike harwin, meanwhile, has moved to warmer climes, relocating to Tallahassee, FL to become an AUSA. He’s putting bad guys in jail as a federal prosecutor in the Panhandle, doing both criminal and civil cases. He and his wife Laura have two boys, Jonah and Eli, who will soon have adorable southern accents and learn to fry up excellent hush puppies. At the other end of the globe, adam Ronzoni is still living in the Chinese province of Guangdong, where he moved in 2011 to work with the communities around the Pearl River Delta to address the issue of unsafe drinking water. Adam writes: “The work here is challenging but fulfilling. I’ve made some great friends and have come to enjoy local delicacies like salted grasshopper and spicy dung beetle.” In other news, Jon Berroya is now running the Business Software Alliance’s Internet anti-piracy program,

tracking down software bootleggers who are selling their wares online, and convincing them to stop. He’s been doing MMA training to help with the “convincing.” Just kidding! But step away from that Bapple Backintosh software you were trying to sell. Jon and his wife have twin boys, and they often get together with Paul Samala and his wife Alix – both architects in DC – and their little girl Nina. Dave Gilbert and his wife Janet were on the West Coast this spring to visit their niece and nephew, alison Gilbert’s ’95 twins Noah and Ruby. They then headed up to San Francisco for the Game Developer Conference, where Dave gave a talk on Indie Game Voiceover techniques and promoted their new game, Resonance. This year Dave’s gaming company Wadjet is branching out into new territory, solely publishing other folks’ games. Look for Resonance to debut in May 2012. Speaking of the West Coast, we got to catch up with adam Reuben, his wife Ally, and their adorable little boy Isaac out in LA this spring. And we frequently see alvin haruthunian and Dan herscher, who are teaching our little girl how to surf and play poker.

1995Thomas a. Pascarella156 Lewis AvenueWestbury, NY [email protected]

Kelly Reid Walsh 96 Grove StreetWellesley, MA 02482(781) [email protected]

Hi Classmates! Kelly Reid Walsh reports that she and husband, Mike, are doing well. Kelly has been continuing the community service we grew up with at Friends by supporting two great organizations: “Cradles to Crayons” that collects items for the impoverished and homeless. Kelly has become part of the “Champion Corps,” and

Class Notes 49

Laura Dello-Iacono welcomes Lucas Scott to the world!


Class Notes50


supports these organizations personally, as well as professionally by bringing groups of her students from the Dana Hall School to volunteer each week. Way to go Kelly! Laura Dello-Iacono Pellicone shared the adorable picture of the newest member of their family, Lucas Scott. Lucas Scott was born on October 21st, 2011 and joins big brother, Liam John, and big sister, Avery Reese. Congratulations Laura and family! Dan Fisher and his wife Ashley live in McLean, Virginia, just outside of Washington. Dan is an M&A partner at Akin Gump and also dabbles in politics, and Ashley, a recovering lawyer, stays home with their two boys Cabot (born 2008) and Winston (born 2010). – Tom

1996Luke Cass 350 Chardon Ave. Suite 1202 San Juan, PR 00918 [email protected]

Famous FA alumnus Voltaire once wrote that «in the case of news, we should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation.» With that, I am proud to confirm that our class has lots of good news to report for this edition of The Meeting House. Brett Jacobson and his wife, Laurie, welcomed into the world a baby boy named Ryan Hunter on January 8, 2012. Brett says that Grandpa Jake and Uncle Todd ‘93, are enjoying playing with the latest addition to the Jacobson clan. No word yet if he has the goalie skills of his dad, but Ryan’s skills as a keeper appear to be promising. Brett is working hard as a Private Client Advisor at JP Morgan and he and his wife, Laurie, are enjoying their new life as parents in Plainview. mike D’addario is the happy father of Juliette and Noelle, both 3, in Locust Valley. He is running his family’s string production plant and plays golf and tennis regularly. In his answer to the FA Alumni questionnaire, he cites Ms. Clark as his favorite teacher while at Friends! Brian Shields works as a computer engineer in West Virginia. He and his wife, Jessie, are the proud parents of Garret, Emma, Griffin, and Charlotte. Brian remains a soccer enthusiast. As for me, I am keeping very busy here in San Juan and enjoying my life in public service with my new bride. Melissa and I look forward to celebrating our one year wedding anniversary on June 3. Friends Daryl holzman, Sameer Sayeed, Dan Lee, and PJ DeCurtis are all doing great. I continue to look forward to hearing from you all in the coming year. Keep the good news coming. –Luke

1997Devon Broderick Carroll 28 Bedford St., Apt. 23New York, NY 10014-4471(917) [email protected]

Devon a. George163 West 18th Street, Apt. 9BNew York, NY 10011(516) [email protected]

Neda Talebian Funk has given her son a new baby brother. Congrats to both Tyler and Cooper Funk! Liz Emmanuel mauro is living in Brooklyn, NY and working at Relocation.com. James Kenler welcomes his daughter into the world. Zachary Boisi has joined the board of D.C. area charity Nourish Now, helping to feed the hungry. matthew Bonanno is happy to be planning a return to the U.S. after a work stretch in London. Devon George just enjoyed a delayed honeymoon with his lovely wife Amanda. Save the date! Oct. 20, 2012 is Fall Fair and Homecoming, and the class of 1997’s 15th Reunion! Look for details soon.

1998Justin J. Boults222 Gates Ave., Apt. #2Brooklyn, NY [email protected]

Justin P. meli1500 Chicago Ave., Apt. 620Evanston, IL 60201(713) [email protected]

Jordan S. Tarry333 E. 5th St., Apt. C3New York, NY 10003(516) [email protected]

1999John F. Reid15 Wood Valley RoadChatham, MA [email protected]

Jennifer Ryan Woods 2 Meadow Spring LaneGlen Cove, NY 11540(516) [email protected]

Rob morse is currently living in Madison, NJ and is working as a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. Rob says I am “married to my wonderful wife Lauren. She is a preschool teacher at The Willow School and budding pilates’ instructor. We purchased our home two years ago. I shifted careers last year, leaving UBS Investment Bank and returning to Private WM at Merrill Lynch. I’m in the process of building my own wealth management practice and enjoying life without a commute. We have a bunny (Jackson) and 2 cats (Gypsy, Firefly). We are hoping for one without fur in the near future.” Rob’s current hobbies include playing squash and cooking. Bradley Gambling is currently living in Charlottesville, VA where he is a student at Darden Graduate School of Business. He will be graduating in May. Dara Broxmeyer Gruenberg and her husband Jon moved to Scarsdale, NY in August. They have a daughter Cornelia, 2, and welcomed a son Jake Logan in September. Peter Kolodner and his wife Vanessa welcomed a son, Elliot



James Kolodner on September 3. Peter says, “Vanessa and I have been having a blast with him out here in San Francisco.”

2000Paul P. Corrigan1 The PreserveWoodbury, NY 11797(516) [email protected]

meredith a. macKinnon46 Duck Pond RoadGlen Cove, NY 11542(516) [email protected]

2001Christopher Scott harvey16 Stiles DriveMelville, NY 11747(516) [email protected]

hadley Devon mongell245 E. 63rd StreetApt. 517New York, NY 10065(516) [email protected]

In the 2001 Lamp, Diane Loviglio wrote that she will “single-handedly build an entire village.” Find out her clean energy initiatives on page 34.

2002Lauren marie Bebry2757 Heathfield RoadBloomfield, MI 48301(631) [email protected]

michael Jason Weiss40 Cow Neck RoadSands Point, NY 11050(516) [email protected]

Wonder what mats Lemberger has been doing since graduating from FA in ‘02? Read about his continued involvement in community service and his life in West Virginia on page 36. Also, save the date! Oct. 20, 2012 is Fall Fair and Homecoming, and the class of 2002’s 10th Reunion! Look for details soon.

2003Katherine Elizabeth Donoghue88 Leonard St., Apt. 1511New York, NY 10013(516) 238 [email protected]

Tara Kristin hanna245 Locust StreetW. Hempstead, NY 11552(516) [email protected]

andrew Joseph Rivara249 Cleft RoadMill Neck, NY 11765(516) [email protected]

2004angela Teresa Batista2 GreenwayMuttontown, NY 11771(516) [email protected]

Jonathan harley Koenig31 Yukon DriveWoodbury, NY [email protected]

2005Robert harrison aaron27 Shorewood DriveSands Point, NY 11050(516) [email protected]

helen Simpson hatch137 Linden Farms RoadLocust Valley, NY 11560(516) [email protected]

2006Brian T. alessi50 Shore DrivePlandome, NY 11030(516) [email protected]

2007Rebecca Pacchiano 93 Tenth StreetHicksville, NY 11801 [email protected]

Christine Farrell1971 Cedar Swamp RoadGlen Head, NY 11545(516) [email protected]

Caitlin Koufakis239 Cleft RoadMill Neck, NY 11765(516) [email protected]

We hope to see the entire Class of 2007 gather together for an informal cocktail reception at the Jackson House on Saturday,

Class Notes 51


The class of 2007 will be celebrating its 5-Year Reunion on Saturday, June 2, 2012 at the marion Jackson house.

Class Notes52


June 2, 2012 from 6 - 8 p.m. to celebrate your Five-Year Reunion! For more information, please contact us at the alumni office.

2008Laura Berke310 3rd Avenue, Apt. 1906ANew York, NY 10010(516) [email protected]

alexandria Phillips68 Flower Hill Rd.Huntington, NY 11743(631) [email protected]

Dylan Pancer, Cornell University, is finishing up his tenure as CEO of the Kairos Society, an International network for collegiate entrepreneurs of which Ben Gottesman, U Miami, was a Vice President. He is learning Spanish in preparation to head to Chile next year after graduation in May to work with the Ministry of Finance as director of strategy and business development for their early stage investment fund “Startup Chile.” Laura Berke is looking forward to graduating from New York University as a Music Business major with a minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. Over the course of college, she has worked for American Idol, Sony Music Entertainment, and is currently interning at Fuse TV. Laura is excited to collaborate with Ally Phillips to plan our Class of 2008 reunion next year! andrew Burke is looking forward to a summer internship in New York City for Barclays Capital taking part in their Market Sales and Trading Summer Analyst Program. Last year, he transferred to Fairfield University, joining their class of 2013 as an Economics major and Communications minor. After she graduates from Villanova University with a major in Accounting and Finance and a minor in Real Estate, mille Satin will be working for Pricewaterhouse Cooper as an auditor in public accounting. Lizzy handy is currently a senior at UMBC majoring in Business Technology with a minor in Administration and Anthropology. She is currently co-designing a software system that will be compatible for school research purposes. ally Phillips is getting ready to graduate from William and Mary with a degree in Psychology and Government. She has enjoyed all of the great times she’s shared with her sisters at Delta Delta Delta. Until graduation, Ally’s enjoying the rest of the

semester and helping the senior class raise money for the Alumni fund. She is looking forward to helping plan the FA Class of 2008 Five-Year reunion! With a major in Commerce, concentrating in Finance and Marketing, Katie Scialabba plans to work for Espalier Global Management in Investor Relations after graduating from UVA. Espalier Global Management was started by her roommate/best friend and will officially launch in May 2013. Elizabeth Sharpe-Levine is reading 100 plays in 120 days this semester! She is majoring in drama and English at Tufts University, and plans to read and write about plays and may become a teacher. When he graduates from John Hopkins University

this May, Shant Keskinyan plans on taking a gap year before starting medical school after majoring in Public Health and Natural Sciences and Pre-Med. He is president of Pi Kappa Alpha, Iota Tau Chapter, and was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa in the spring of 2010.

2009Nell C. Kucich316 Manhasset Woods RoadManhasset, NY 11030(516) [email protected]

Learning from Loss Natalie Harrington ’05

A hushed Upper School body sat riveted in their seats as they listened to Nata-lie Harrington ’05 as she carried them through her journey from Friends to

Brown University to teaching in a failing South Bronx high school.

A gifted and competitive field hockey player, Natalie was recruited by Brown. Stymied by illness, coaching decisions and her inability to handle losing, Natalie watched her college sports career deterio-rate. A decision to explore musical theater in the off-season gave Natalie “new per-spective about winning and losing,” and ultimately gave her the resiliency she’d been looking for – what would be crucial to “working hard to close the achieve-ment gap one student at a time” at a South Bronx high school.

Natalie currently teaches 10th and 12th grade English and has discovered a new world. “My school is only forty minutes away from here and yet it might as well be on another planet,” she told Uppper School students.

“When I first arrived in the classroom in September of 2009, there were days when I felt so tired and so helpless, there was no way that I could give these kids what they needed. There were too many obstacles,” she said. But, recognizing that “life is not about outcomes, it is about experiences,” Natalie has been able to refocus her energy on what she can control. “I may not be able to be with these kids when they are out on the streets or at home, but while they are in my classroom I can make them feel loved, appreci-ated, challenged, and successful.”

Read Natalie’s entire speech at www.fa.org/alumni

above, Natalie harrington ’05 talks to Upper School students about how athletics shaped her life. Below, Natalie’s mother, Carol, Fa his-tory teachers marshall Lindner and herb Lape and David harrington.


Class Notes 53

Amanda Sokolow ’95 inducted into Miami University (Ohio) Hall of Fame for field hockey.l;’

As reported in Newsday on March 10, 2012 by Stephen Haynes, Amanda joins an impressive list of stellar athletes including Weeb Ewbank, Bo Schembechler, and Wally Szczerbiak as a Miami University Hall of Famer! Amanda is thrilled to be in such company. She states, “There are some amazing people, an illustrious group, in that Hall of Fame. For me, it was overwhelming and humbling to see my name among some of those.” At Friends, Amanda, a midfielder, dominated the field. She was selected for all-state for three years, and won gold on the junior Olympic team. Amanda also reached great heights in lacrosse as an All-American player. After graduating from Miami University, Amanda attended Hosftra where she got her MBA.

Harrison Hefele ’09, a junior at Cortland, led

five double-figure scorers with 19 points as Cortland clinched a top-three SUNYAC regular-season finish with an 85-67 win over visiting Brockport. Harrison matched his career high (19 points) and set new career bests with 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.

Bryan Judge ’11, a freshman at Stony Brook has had an up and coming season. So far he’s tallied

three ground balls vs. Yale (4/16) ... one ground ball at UMBC (4/14) ... one ground ball and one caused turnover at Binghamton (4/7) ... tallied a ground ball vs. Vermont (3/31) ...had two ground balls at Bryant (3/24) and at Siena (3/20) ... added two caused turnovers against Bulldogs ... recorded a ground ball and a caused turn-

over vs. Towson (3/17) ... had three ground balls and a caused turnover vs. St. John’s (3/13) ... totaled two ground balls and a caused turnover at Delaware (3/10) ... recorded two ground balls and two caused turnovers vs. Marist (3/3) ... career-high three ground balls and three caused turnovers at Virginia (2/25) ... two ground balls and a caused

in sportsalumni

harrison hefele ’09 is a junior at Cortland University, where he has set new career bests.

John E. mascariDartmouth College3153 HinmanHanover, NH [email protected]

2010alexa Gordon24 West Creek Farms Rd.Sands Point, NY [email protected]

2011holly Constants 52 Ayers RoadLocust Valley, NY 11560 [email protected]

Gabrielle mcPhaul-Guerrier 188 Leaf AvenueCentral Islip, NY 11722 [email protected]

News from meredith Wagner (Tufts University): I am an active member of Engineers without Borders and expect to be going to El Salvador to implement a spring box as a water catchment system. I’m also a

BY STEPHEN HAYNES

[email protected]

A look at the list of luminaries

in the

University ofMiami (Ohio)

Hall of

Fame quickly reveals some im

pressive

names: WeebEwbank, Bo

Schem-

bechler, WallySzczerbiak . . .

Amanda

Sokolow.Yeah, that was h

er reaction, too.

Sokolow, a former field hockey a

nd la-

crosse superstar at Friends A

cademy,

was inducted into her college’s

Hall of

Fame last month.

“There are some amazing peop

le, an

illustrious group, in that Hall o

f Fame,”

said Sokolow, a1999 graduate. “

For me,

it was overwhelming and hum

bling to

see my name among some of tho

se.”

The Locust Valley native starr

ed for

the RedHawksfield hockey te

am and

piled up accolades, including: fr

eshman

of the year in 1995, all-region an

d confer-

ence honors, and her 138 poi

nts rank

third in programhistory.

Before that, Sokolow owned t

he cir-

cle on Long Island high scho

ol fields.

The midfielderwas a three-tim

e all-

state selection and won gold on

the jun-

ior Olympic team. Her 47 goals

and 23

assists — eye-popping totals in field

hockey — led the Quakers to a

county

final in 1994. (That was in add

ition to

being an All-American lacrosse

player.)

“She had an innate ability to re

ad the

field,” said Jacquie Gow, who

coached

Sokolow in bothsports at Friend

s Acad-

emy. “She’s by the far the most

talented

athlete I’ve coached [in 36 ye

ars]. To

have one of your athletes re

ach that

level is a dream.”

Sokolow went on to earn an M

BA in

management and finance from

Hofstra

and now lives in Garden City

with her

husband, Mike Mancuso, and 14-m

onth-

old son, Ryan.

BY STEPHEN HAYNES

[email protected]

Luge — sleddingdown an, incline

d ice

course with curves and twists a

t break-

neck speedswhile supine—sure

ly comes

with its risks.Let’s go back to l

astwinter: AidanKelly

was recovering froma fractured

vertebra,

a concussion and broken right fi

bula sus-

tained in a crash during the Ad

irondack

Icebreakers lugerace in Decemb

er 2010.

The sled skippedon a curve and h

is head

slammed into awall, he said. Kelly

actual-

ly crossed the finish line, unconsc

ious, be-

fore the sled capsized. And his ti

me was

good enough forsecond place.

The 17-year-oldWest Islip nativ

e said

he still suffers occasional back pa

in.How-

ever, he said, it wasworth it.

Two months later, he broke his

ankle

during a practice run days be

fore the

YouthNationalChampionships.T

he inju-

ry cost him theremainder of th

e season,

and that was his low point. An

d still, he

said, it was worth it. So the thre

e medals

(two bronze, one silver) that

clanged

around his neckearlier this mon

th after

the U.S. Luge Association Junio

r Nation-

als . . . “They mean a whole lot

to me,”

Kelly said. “I’m proud ofmyself.”

The two-day competition at Ol

ympic

Park in Utah, which began on M

arch 1,

was decided bythe combined t

imes of

four races on a1,315-meter cour

se. Kelly,

who took third overall, finished 0

.379 be-

hind thewinner,TyAnderson.

Before that, hewon the Icebreake

r race

on Dec. 12, turning around the

previous

year’smisfortune.Andaneighth-p

lace fin-

ish in December’s Junior World

Cup has

Kelly ranked 12th in the world

in the

Under-20 circuit. “It’s very excit

ing to see

him do well,” his mother, Mered

ith Kelly

said, “but I do hold my breath eve

ry time

he goes down a track.”

The sleds can reach speeds of 95

mph

and his familyis well aware th

at there

have been tragicaccidents.

“I’ve had enoughof my own crash

es to

know how dangerous this sport

is,” Kelly

said. But his motivation: “My fam

ily and I

have put so much into this. Wh

y give in

after how farwe’ve come?”

He has gone farin just four year

s. Kelly

grew up playingbaseball and ska

teboard-

ing, and first saw luge on TV

in 2008.

“The speed” iswhat piqued his

interest,

he said. Soon after, there was a

luge re-

cruitment tryout in Farmingville

. Young-

sters were taught the basics, M

eredith

Kelly said, and the ones who sho

wed the

most potential were invited to au

dition at

Lake Placid inDecember 2008

. Aidan

made the cut and, “after those firs

t couple

runs, I was hooked.”

He now lives atNational Sports A

cade-

my, a boarding school and trainin

g center

in Lake Placid that houses wint

er sports

athletes.The setting all

ows him to focus on

honing his skills, and the 1-6 p

.m. class

schedule is accommodating, K

elly said,

though he admits, “it’s tough

being

away from home and my mom

cries

every time I’m leaving.” But, he

said, his

eyes are set onthe 2018 Olymp

ics.

And, to him, it’sall worth it.

SPORTS

LI’s Sokolow inducted into

Miami ofOhioHall of Fame

W. Islip’sKellywatches

lugemedals piling up

CHANGEONE DEAL CAN

FOREVERNEW YORK

DEALS IN NY BASEBALL

tHE LINEup: HItS AND ERRORS

tHE BEStAND WORSt

AN ORIGINAL 8-pARt tV SERIES

pREMIERES tONIGHt At 10pM

FOR CHANNEL LISTINGS VISIT MSG.COM

A61

newsday.com

NEW

SDAY,SU

NDAY,MARC

H11,

2012

From March 10, 2012 Newsday

member of the Sarabande Dance Ensemble as well as the Spirit of Color dance team. Evan Landau (Dartmouth College) reports:I got a job making comics for the Dartmouth and at my last party I made a profit of $60, a bottle of tequila, and a sweet pair of sunglasses. mackenzie Norris (Tulane University) writes: I have been cast as Logainne Schwarzandgrubenierre in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

She plays a politically active 9-year-old with two gay dads and a lisp....and she’s a boss (have a laugh via pictures http://www.stageclick.com/show/gallery/38296.aspx). News from Gabrielle mcPhaul-Guerrier (Williams College): I’m a DJ on WCFM Williamstown (91.9), my college’s radio station. You can join me Saturdays at noon to hear some pretty sweet tunes over the air or streaming online.

mackenzie Norris, currently at Tulane University, performs in “The 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

In Memoriam54


Ruth Cotterill Richards ’35

Lois Gifford Moore ‘48

Jeri Vlasak Stolowicz ’63

Ruth Mazzoni ’82

We Remember...

1

2

3

4

By Kathy FoxAlumni Affairs Coordinator

Ruth Cotterill Richards ’35 was born on May 19, 1918 and passed away on

July 31, 2011 at the age of 95.

She was the kind of woman who reminds us all that with age comes wisdom, beauty of spirit, and an incredible collec-tion of experiences. Intelligent and kind hearted, with a keen sense of humor, Ruth made lifelong friends wherever she lived.

In 1931 she moved with her family from Atlanta, Georgia to New York City. A boarding student at Friends, Ruth was gifted both academically and on the sports field. She was captain of the basketball team, manager of the tennis team, center forward in field hockey, and graduated high school in three years.

From her days as a Depression-era schoolgirl to her participation in the heady days of 1960s and ’70s Washington politics, Ruth recalled her experiences at Friends and beyond with clarity and wit in the winter 2010-2011 issue of The Meeting House.

In 1940, Ruth mar-ried Ben Richards. Within a year of their marriage, Ben had quit his job on Wall Street and joined the US Army, where he stayed for the remainder of his career. Ruth followed her husband’s military postings around

the world – when John F. Kennedy was shot, they were in Izmir, Turkey, on the Ionian Sea.

Then, thirty years after graduating from Friends, Ruth and Ben settled down

in Washington, D.C. Profoundly affected by the Vietnam War and the murders of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, Ruth became a member of the Society of Friends and later became Clerk of the Meeting.

Soon after, she ac-cepted the offer of the staff job of Assistant Secretary of the Friends Meeting of Washington, D.C., working there full time for 14 years.

After a long and exciting career, Ruth retired in 1983 – “before anyone hinted that a younger person might be better in my job,” she wrote in her Meeting House profile. “I am sure I never would have had the great pleasure of those times if I had not previously gone to the Friends School in Locust Valley.”

Seeing her profile in The Meeting House less than a year before her death, brought Ruth tears of joy. “I am aston-ished and overwhelmed to find myself singled out, and you could say even ‘featured’ in your beautiful magazine. See-ing my own writing gave me cold chills and a few tears when I first saw it…The whole project gave me tremendous pleasure and your kindness to me

will help me through the rest of my life.”Ruth is survived by her two daughters,

Anne and Stella, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Ruth Cottterill Richards ‘35: Incredible collection of experiences

Top, Ruth Cotterill Richards ’35 at 15. middle, the Class of 1935 group picture. Ruth is in the second row, third from left. Bottom, Ruth celebrating a recent birthday.

1. Jeri Vlasak Stolowicz ’63

2. Lois Gifford moore ‘48

3. Ruth mazzoni ’82

4. Ruth Cotterill Richards ’35

obituary notices

Please send announcements and memories to Kathy Fox at [email protected] or call (516) 465-1765. Feel free to include a photo with your message.

Alumni Upcoming Events>>

Friends Academy Alumni Association

2012 Fall Fair & HomecomingSaturday, October 20

10 a.m – 4 p.m.

New York City Reunion

All FA alums, faculty and staff are welcome! Continue to check www.fa.org and your FA Alumni portal for more details.

alumni gather at annual New York City alumni gathering at the Princeton/Columbia Club last June.

Alumni are the living legacy of Friends Academy.

More information is on the alumni pages of the Friends Academy website: www.fa.org/alumni

Five-Year Reunion for the Class 0f 2007Saturday, June 2, 2012 from 6 – 8 p.m.

Join classmates and faculty for an informal reception at the Jackson House

Monday, June 4, 2012 from 6 - 8 p.m.

Princeton/Columbia Club15 West 43rd St., NYC 10036

Honoring Retiring Lower School Art Teacher Margaret Lindner

Founded 1876

Friends Academy270 Duck Pond Road, Locust Valley, NY 11560516.676.0393 | www.fa.org

Non-Profitu.S. Postage

PAIDHicksville, NY

Permit No. 438

Save The Date!May 3Upper School Concert, 7:30 PM (Theater)

May 9-10FA Plant Sale, 8 AM - 4 PM (Dolan Center)

May 10Lower School Concert & Art Show, 6:30 PM (Gallery & Theater)

May 24Middle School Concert, 7 PM (Theater)

June 6Fourth Day Honors, 11 AM (Theater)

June 9Commencement, 10 AM

Lower School students gather togther in the meeting house for meeting for Worship during the 2012 Peace Week celebration.

Find us ... and join us onlineOur website

www.fa.orgVisit our official school site to see regular slideshows of school and updates on

campus life.

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pages and get connected to over 1,000 “Friends!”

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updates about athletic wins, art and theater openings, news coverage, and more.

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the friends academy magazine for alumni, parents & friends ... · i think the mystery man is...

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